Tree · Styracaceae
American snowbell
Styrax americanus
American snowbell is recorded as native to 16 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 391 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
American snowbell at a glance
- Native in
- 391 counties, across 16 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b PLANTS minimum temperature −16°F
- Mature height
- 10 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −16°F; zone 5b winters bottom out at −15°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
American snowbell is recorded as native to 16 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 391 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 391 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 37 counties
- Arkansas 44 counties
- Florida 42 counties
- Georgia 56 counties
- Illinois 8 counties
- Indiana 9 counties
- Kentucky 16 counties
- Louisiana 47 counties
- Mississippi 27 counties
- Missouri 10 counties
- North Carolina 23 counties
- Ohio 1 county
- South Carolina 29 counties
- Tennessee 16 counties
- Texas 15 counties
- Virginia 11 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 10 ft
- Growth rate
- Not recorded
- Growth form
- Not recorded
- Shape
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Active growth period
- Not recorded
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 16 to 70 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.5 to 8.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Not recorded
- Salinity tolerance
- Not recorded
- Fertility requirement
- Not recorded
- Minimum root depth
- Not recorded
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −16°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 207
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Not recorded
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Not recorded
- Family
- Styracaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- STAM4
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Styrax americanus (PLANTS symbol STAM4).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources