The Silverbell Tree (Halesia Tetraptera) has a tall straight trunk and short stout branches which form a narrow head. This tree can stand eighty or ninety feet in height but are usually much smaller, often in the form of a shrub with stout spreading stems. Roots are fibrous.
The bark of a silverbell tree is reddish brown with broad ridges. Branches are slender and at first can be covered with a pale hairy surface which later become reddish brown and sometimes glaucous. In the second year the bark darkens and begins to show pale long narrow openings. The winter buds of this tree are dark red, small and hairy. Outer scales begin to drop when spring growth begins; inner scales lengthen with the growing shoot and become strap-shaped, bright yellow and up to half an inch long. Flower-buds of the silverbell tree are rounded.
Silverbell Trees have leaves that are 4-6" long and 2-3" wide. They are oval or wedge-shaped and rounded at the base. The central vein is slender and primary veins are easily noticeable. They grow out of the bud a bronze red color and hairy above the leaf stalk. When full grown, the flowers are bright green above and paler beneath. In autumn they become pale yellow and fall late in the season.
When the leaves are about one-third grown, typically around May, the flowers of the silverbell tree will be in bloom. These flowers are white and about one inch in length. The flowering period lasts about three weeks and the Silverbell is worthy to be grouped with the Canadian serviceberry, the Dogwood, and the Eastern Redbud as a flowering tree of rare elegance and beauty. The fruit of the tree ripens late in the year and remains on the branches until midwinter.
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