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Styrax grandifolius
Sponsor
Kindly sponsored by
Arabella Lennox-Boyd
Credits
John Grimshaw, Ross Bayton & Alan Elliott (2017)
Recommended citation
Grimshaw, J., Bayton, R. & Elliott, A. (2017), 'Styrax grandifolius' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Common Names
- Big-leaf Snowbell
Other taxa in genus
- Styrax americanus
- Styrax calvescens
- Styrax confusus
- Styrax dasyanthus
- Styrax faberi
- Styrax formosanus
- Styrax hemsleyanus
- Styrax hookeri
- Styrax japonicus
- Styrax limprichtii
- Styrax obassia
- Styrax odoratissimus
- Styrax officinalis
- Styrax platanifolius
- Styrax redivivus
- Styrax serrulatus
- Styrax shiraianus
- Styrax suberifolius
- Styrax tonkinensis
- Styrax wilsonii
- Styrax wuyuanensis
Shrub or tree to 9 m. Branchlets blackish brown with some stellate hairs. Leaves 4–10(–20) × 2.5–7(–12) cm, elliptic to ovate or obovate, upper surface glabrous, lower surface silvery grey, densely to finely tomentose, margins entire or minutely serrate towards the apex, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 0.4–0.9 cm long, pubescent. Inflorescences terminal, racemose, 5–15 cm long, with 5–20 flowers, or sometimes flowers solitary. Flowers ~2 cm long; calyx obscurely five-toothed, densely grey-pubescent, corolla tubular, lobes elliptic, downy, stamens as long as corolla. Fruit globose, 0.7–0.9 cm diameter, tomentose. Flowering March to April (USA). (Spongberg 1976, Gonsoulin 1974).
Distribution United States Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia
Habitat Woodland on wet or preferably well-drained sandy soils.
USDA Hardiness Zone 7
Conservation status Not evaluated (NE)
In its native southeastern USA Styrax grandifolius is forest understorey plant in dry situations, where it is a somewhat loose and open plant (M. Dirr pers. comm. 2026).It has more potential than presence in gardens, at least in the southeastern United States, and is well adapted to tolerate the summer heat better than most other Styrax (Raulston 1991, 1992). Mike Dirr (pers. comm. 2026) planted one at the University of Georgia Horticulture Farm in the 1980s (illustrated here): it has become a dense shrub, free-flowering in late April – early May, with “subdued” yellow autumn colour. Images available on the internet suggest that its inflorescences are often partly concealed by the developing large leaves, but that when in full flower it is an attractive sight. As Dirr has found, J.C. Raulston (1992) noted that it performs much better in cultivation than in the wild, flowering being enhanced by improved light. It seems unlikely to be a great success in areas with cooler summers.
