Japanese Snowbell

The Japanese snowbells have been in bloom for about two weeks.

The pendulous white blooms of Styrax japonicus are reminiscent of the Carolina silverbell...

but these petals are separated.

Whenever I went up to a Japanese snowbell to get a closer look or to enjoy the sweet fragrance, I couldn't hear anything but the buzzing of bees: bumblebees...

and honey bees alike. The pollinated flowers will soon give way to showy fruit.

Carolina Silverbell

Halesia tetraptera (Halesia carolina) is native to the eastern United States. It's in the Storax family (along with the Japanese Snowbell).

This small ornamental tree drips these charming white pendulous flowers in the spring.

Here's a view from underneath.

It is just starting to leaf out. Four-winged fruit will develop as the summer progresses...

Japanese Snowbell

This Japanese snowbell (Styrax japonicus) looked more like a shrub than a tree. It's the fruit that caught my eye.

It's a small ovoid drupe held in a five-lobed calyx.