There are up to five
species of silverbells native to the southeast depending on the classification
authority.Two wing silverbell, Halesia
dipterea, which is mostly found in the coastal plain has two wings on the seed and is mostly a shrubby species, but the Alabama state champion is 78 feet tall, has a girth of 40 inches, and an average limb spread of 33 feet.The others
species have four wings and little other difference than relative size and are
alternately considered synonymous or varieties of each other.One is Carolina
silverbell, H. carolina, which is considered synonymous
with H. parviflora, and H. tetraptera, but the later is also
called mountain silverbell where the largest species H. monticola is often listed as a variety.This controversy may never be resolved because of
uncertainty about the originally named specimen and the policy to retain that
name.The common name is due to the white
(and sometimes pink) bell shaped flowers.An interesting feature is striped bark at least until reaching a large
size where the bark reportable peels off in large scales.The largest specimens are in the SmokyMountains
while in northeast Alabama both Little River
Canyon and Buck’s PocketState park have many good
specimens that are relatively easily accessible although the one I nominated for state champion was in Talledega National Forest, but could not be measured for inclusion in the 2009 list.The flowering time is in April since it is on
old growth rather than on new growth where flowering would typically start in May instead.
