Halesia diptera Bob McCartney the same species behind every

the same species behind every cup of green

and today's taxonomists fold these Louisiana plants into the southern variety australis or simply into the species itself

and the leaves and twigs were brewed as a tea for coughs

Across parts of that native range the shrub is more than a curiosity

the modest little groundcover that carpets sunny woodland edges

Halesia diptera Bob McCartney the same species behind everyIn spring, the bare gray branches of the two wing silverbell fill with small white bells, three to six to a cluster, hanging along the year old wood like a run of tiny lanterns. Each flower is a half inch, four lobed cup, and en masse they turn a modest understory tree into one of the quiet highlights of the southern woodland spring. This silverbell grows as a large multi stemmed shrub or a small tree, rarely more than thirty feet, with an open,