Styrax japonicus
Common name: 
Japanese Snowbell
Pronunciation: 
STI-raks ja-PON-i-kus
Family: 
Styracaceae
Genus: 
Styrax
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Deciduous tree, 15-25 ft (4.5-7.6 m) tall, similar width, low and horizontal branching.  Leaves alternate, simple, broad-elliptic to elliptic oblong, 2.5-9 cm long, 1.3-4 cm wide, acute to acuminate, medium to dark green, glabrous above.  Flowers perfect, bell-shaped, 2 cm wide, white with yellow stamens, each on a pendulous stalk of about 3.5 cm long.  Teeming with flowers in May-June.  Fruit a dry drupe, ovoid, 15 mm long, gray, effective in late summer and fall in early winter (contains a single hard brown seed).
  • Sun to part shade, best in acid soil supplemented with organic matter.   Mostly trouble free.  Sometimes grown as a bushy tree or shrub.  A few cultivars available, including:
    • 'Emerald Pagoda'  -   columnar habit
    • 'Evening Light'  -  white flowers, maroon-purple leaves
    • Nightfall®  -  small weeping tree, dark purple leaves
    • 'Pink Chimes'  -  pink flowers
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 5      Native to China and Japan
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: north side of parking lot west of Cordley Hall.
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit, early summer flowering

    plant habit, early summer flowering

  • flower buds and leaves

    flower buds and leaves

  • flowering branches

    flowering branches

  • flowers and leaves

    flowers and leaves

  • plant habit, summer

    plant habit, summer

  • plant habit, shrub/tree

    plant habit, shrub/tree

  • plant habit, shrub form

    plant habit, shrub form

  • shrub/tree, sheared

    shrub/tree, sheared

  • leafy shoot

    leafy shoot

  • leaves

    leaves

  • fruit, summer

    fruit, summer

  • plant habit, fall

    plant habit, fall

  • fruit, fall

    fruit, fall

  • plant habit, late summer

    plant habit, late summer

  • twig, winter

    twig, winter

  • trunk, bark

    trunk, bark