SILVER BELL TREE; SNOWDROP TREE (Mohrodendron, 

 tetraptera, Britt.). Tree or shrub to 80 feet high, with erect 

 branches and narrow head. Bark scaly, brown, with shallow 

 furrows and broad ridges, new shoots pubescent; twigs smooth. 

 Wood pale brownish, soft, light, close. Buds hairy, small, 

 reddish, blunt. Leaves ovate, oblong, acuminate entire, 2 

 to 4 inches long, dark green above, paler and stellate pubes- 

 cent beneath, pale yellow in fall. Flowers in May, white, 

 bell-shaped, in lateral clusters of 2 to 4, perfect; stamens 8 to 

 16, pistil 2 to 4-celled, 4 ovules in each cell. Fruit 4-winged, 

 dry, oblong drupe. Preferred habitat, well-drained, rich soil 

 in sheltered situations. Dist.: Mountains of West Virginia 

 to Illinois; south to Florida, northern Alabama and Missis- 

 sippi to Arkansas, Louisiana and eastern Texas. 



Another Snowdrop Tree, M. diptera, grows along the south 

 Atlantic and Gulf coasts and follows the Mississippi to Ar- 

 kansas. It is hardy in cultivation no farther north than 

 Philadelphia. It is smaller in stature than the silver bell tree, 

 but has larger leaves and more showy flowers. Between the 

 two species the chief difference is that two of the seed's wings 

 in this one have become obsolete, leaving it 2-winged, 

 di-ptera. 



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