Halesia tetraptera
Encyclopedia
Halesia tetraptera is a species in the family Styracaceae
, native to the southeastern United States
.
It is a small deciduous
tree
growing to 10 m tall. The leaves
are ovate to lanceolate, 5–16 cm long and 4–7 cm broad. The flower
s are 1–2.5 cm long, with a four-lobed white corolla. The fruit
is a dry drupe
4 cm long, with four wings running along its length.
The species is found in scattered populations over much of the eastern United States, as far north as West Virginia, south to northern Florida, and west to Oklahoma. But it is thinly distributed over much of its native range, and is becoming rare in many areas.
Some botanists treat Halesia monticola as a variety
of H. tetraptera. This taxon is much larger, up to 20–39 m tall, with larger leaves up to 20 cm long and flowers up to 3 cm long.
It is cultivated as an ornamental tree.
Styracaceae
Styracaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Ericales, containing 11 genera and about 160 species of trees and shrubs. The family occurs in warm temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
, native to the southeastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
It is a small deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
growing to 10 m tall. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are ovate to lanceolate, 5–16 cm long and 4–7 cm broad. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are 1–2.5 cm long, with a four-lobed white corolla. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is a dry drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
4 cm long, with four wings running along its length.
The species is found in scattered populations over much of the eastern United States, as far north as West Virginia, south to northern Florida, and west to Oklahoma. But it is thinly distributed over much of its native range, and is becoming rare in many areas.
Some botanists treat Halesia monticola as a variety
Variety (biology)
In botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species: as such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name....
of H. tetraptera. This taxon is much larger, up to 20–39 m tall, with larger leaves up to 20 cm long and flowers up to 3 cm long.
It is cultivated as an ornamental tree.