Halesia monticola
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Halesia monticola | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Styracaceae |
| Genus: | Halesia |
| Species: | H. monticola |
| Binomial name | |
| Halesia monticola | |
| Synonyms | |
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Halesia (tetraptera var.) monticola, the mountain silverbell, is a species of flowering plant in the small family Styracaceae. This large deciduous shrub was originally included in H. carolina, but was identified first as a subspecies by Rehder in 1914 and then as a species by Sargent in 1921. More recently, some authoritative sources regard it only as a subspecies or variety,[1] while other authoritative sources regard it as a species, as it is treated here.[2]
Halesia monticola is much larger than either the little silverbell or common silverbell (var. tetraptera) and is the largest member of the genus. It is known to grow 34 m (112 ft) tall in the Great Smoky Mountains. Another important difference is that monticola has significantly larger flowers than either H. carolina or H. tetraptera.[3]