Styrax obassia

Styrax obassia, commonly called fragrant snowbell, is a small, slender, upright tree with ascending branches and rounded crown or a large shrub. Typically grows 20-30′ tall. Bell-shaped, fragrant, white flowers with showy yellow stamens appear in pendulous, terminal racemes (to 8″ long) in May-June (somewhat late for trees). Flowers are often partially obscured by the large, velvety, oval-rounded, medium green leaves (to 8″ long). Flowers give way to drupes which may persist into late autumn. Smooth gray bark exfoliates on the trunks of older trees revealing an attractive orange inner layer and resulting winter interest.