Fragrant Snowbell

Fragrant Snowbell

Styrax obassia

Styracaceae (Styrax Family)

▲ flowering tree

▲ flower buds and leaves

▲ flowers

▲ leaf, showing teeth toward tip

Location on Missouri State University campus: east side of Plaster Student Union.

Styrax obassia: Fragrant Snowbell

• leaves alternate, deciduous, simple, broad-oval to rounded, 3-8 inches long and 2/3 or equally wide, with abruptly-pointed tips and toothed margins, particularly toward leaf tip; dark green and hairless at maturity on upper side, and pubescent underneath
• stems thick, red-brown, peeling to show green inner bark; shiny brown after that, then gray-brown and furrowed as they enlarge
• buds oval, with scales that cover whole bud, gray-brown, usually in pairs with larger floral bud inside smaller vegetative bud, 0.125-0.25 inches long
• bark is smooth, gray, with some fissures as the tree grows larger
• grows 20-30 feet tall, with oval canopy, becoming more open and irregular with age
• flowers showy, fragrant, white, bell-like in late-spring, but somewhat hidden by large leaves
• fruit is an oval, dry drupe that splits open along its midsection at maturity
• prefers part shade to moderate shade in moist, fertile acidic soils
• slow to medium growth rate