# Two-wing Silverbell (Halesia diptera) > White bells in spring and two-winged fruit in fall, on a small tree of southern floodplains that takes shade and wet ground. Also called two-winged silverbell, American snowdrop tree. Category: Uncommon Yard Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/two-wing-silverbell/ ![Two-wing silverbell (Halesia diptera) branch hung with white, deeply lobed flowers in spring](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/two-wing-silverbell-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Mike Peel, CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAt_Royal_Botanic_Gardens%2C_Kew_2025_130.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Small tree - Mature height: 15 to 30 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 4 to 9 - Grows wild in: Floodplain forests, stream banks, the forest understory, swamps and wet flats - Native range: 8 states, north to Arkansas, south to Florida and west to Texas (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas) - Sun: Part, Full, Shade - Soil moisture: Average, Wet - Growth rate: Medium - Traits: Showy flowers, Rare, Tolerates wet soil, Tolerates shade, Wildlife value - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Two-wing silverbell is the silverbell of the southern coastal plain, a small tree or large shrub that often grows on several low trunks. Its fruit carries two broad wings where Carolina silverbell's has four, and that gives it its name. Its flowers make a better show than Carolina silverbell's. Few nurseries grow it. Give it the edge of a wet woodland or a spot beside a rain garden, where the bells hang at eye level in spring. ## Size, growth and what to expect Two-wing silverbell grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. It makes a tree of 15 to 30 feet with a rounded crown 15 to 30 feet across. Wild trees reach 36 feet. The flowers open from March to May, a week or two after Carolina silverbell's, in clusters of three to six. Each is a white bell three quarters of an inch to an inch and a quarter long, split almost to the base into four lobes. The dry fruit, an inch and a half to 2 inches long with two broad wings, ripens in late summer and fall, and some hangs on into winter. Squirrels eat the green fruit. It grows wild on the coastal plain from South Carolina and north Florida west to Arkansas and Texas. Its home is wooded floodplains, ravines, swamps and hammocks. NatureServe lists it as possibly gone from Arkansas. ## How to grow Two-wing Silverbell Two-wing silverbell does best in part shade, in a moist, acid soil rich in leaf litter, and it takes a spell of wet ground. It flowers best in full sun where the soil stays moist. Shelter it from strong wind, plant it 15 feet from a wall, and set trees 20 feet apart. Keep it at least 15 feet from overhead wires. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and spread mulch over the whole root zone, clear of the trunk. Seed needs a warm spell and then a cold one. Sow the winged fruits outdoors in fall, and expect most seedlings the second spring. Water deeply every week through the first two summers, and in dry spells after that, since it suffers in drought. Deer and rabbits browse young trees, so cage it for the first few years. Choose one trunk early for a single-stemmed tree, or let it grow as a clump. Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair. It has no serious pests or diseases. In an alkaline soil the leaves turn yellow between the veins, and watering will not fix that. ## Sources - [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Halesia diptera](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250092277) - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Halesia diptera](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/halesia-diptera/) - [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Halesia diptera](https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=287279&isprofile=1&gen=Halesia) - [University of Florida IFAS Extension, ENH449: Halesia diptera, Two-Winged Silverbell (Gilman and Watson, 1993, reviewed 2003)](https://journals.flvc.org/edis/article/download/141330/146537/290610) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Halesia diptera](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=hadi3) - [Mt. Cuba Center: Large-Flowered Two-Wing Silverbell, Halesia diptera var. magniflora](https://mtcubacenter.org/plants/large-flowered-two-wing-silverbell/) - [Virginia Tech Dendrology: two-wing silverbell](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=854) - [NatureServe Explorer: Halesia diptera](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.142427/Halesia_diptera) - [USDA Forest Service, Silvics of North America: Carolina silverbell](https://research.fs.usda.gov/silvics/carolina-silverbell) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual: Halesia chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Halesia.pdf) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [Why native trees become rare, and ten rare eastern species worth growing](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/why-native-trees-become-rare/index.html.md) - [Multistem or single stem? Sometimes the trunk is hiding the answer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/multistem-or-single-stem/index.html.md) - [Leaf litter, not wood chips, under the canopy](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/leaf-litter-not-wood-chips/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Two-wing Silverbell, add ?species=two-wing-silverbell with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=two-wing-silverbell&zone=4&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Two-wing Silverbell](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=two-wing-silverbell): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=two-wing-silverbell - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Two-wing Silverbell is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=two-wing-silverbell - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Two-wing Silverbell needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=two-wing-silverbell:1 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Two-wing Silverbell flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.