Mountain Silverbell                ha-LE-zhi-a mon-ti-KO-la  (ha-LE-zhi-a kar-o-LI-na)

• Broadleaf deciduous tree, 40-80 ft (12-24 m); excurrent (prolonged axis so as to form an undivided main stem or trunk), conical habit.  Leaves alternate, simple, 5-10 cm long and half as wide, ovate to elliptic, finely serrate, dark green soon glabrous, pubescent below.  Flowers white ('Rosea' has pink), pendulous, bell-shaped, 5 cm long, including a 2.5 cm stalk, 2-5 per cluster.  Fruit is an oblong, 4-winged dry drupe.
• Sun to part shade, roots near surface.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 5     Understory tree of Appalachians Mountains of North Carolina to Tennessee and Georgia.
• At one time in the recent past, Halesia monticola and Halesia carolina were both considered to be Halesia tetraptera.  Now they are both placed in Halesia carolina.    However, trees known as Mountain Silverbell are larger in habit, leaf, flower and fruit than typical H. carolina.  Mountain Silverbells apparently are found in mountainous areas and are larger than the coastal plain (Piedmont) types (Dirr, 1997, 2009).
• Oregon State Univ. campus: southwest side of Milam