Tree · Styracaceae
Bigleaf snowbell
Styrax grandifolius
Bigleaf snowbell is recorded as native to 15 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 285 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Bigleaf snowbell at a glance
- Native in
- 285 counties, across 15 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −26°F
- Mature height
- 10 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −26°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Bigleaf snowbell is recorded as native to 15 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 285 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 285 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 32 counties
- Arkansas 29 counties
- Florida 11 counties
- Georgia 32 counties
- Illinois 1 county
- Indiana 1 county
- Kentucky 7 counties
- Louisiana 37 counties
- Mississippi 33 counties
- North Carolina 35 counties
- Ohio 1 county
- South Carolina 21 counties
- Tennessee 25 counties
- Texas 8 counties
- Virginia 12 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
- Slow
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- Not recorded
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 33 to 72 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.5 to 6.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Not recorded
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Not recorded
- Minimum root depth
- 24 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −26°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 174
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Styracaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- STGR4
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 grandifolius (PLANTS symbol STGR4).
- 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