Styrax japonicusSiebold & Zucc.

Japanese snowbell

WFO wfo-0000492190 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Styrax japonicus, photographed by WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁
fig. a WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-15 / obs. 197748578
Styrax japonicus, photographed by WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁
fig. b WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197749077
Styrax japonicus, photographed by WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁
fig. c WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197750278
Styrax japonicus, photographed by WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁
fig. d WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 195886890
Styrax japonicus, photographed by Marco Mussita
fig. e Marco Mussita, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 140347457
Styrax japonicus, photographed by Marco Mussita
fig. f Marco Mussita, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 138064604
Styrax japonicus, photographed by Marco Mussita
fig. g Marco Mussita, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 131871706
Styrax japonicus, photographed by WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁
fig. h WATANABE Hitoshi 渡辺仁, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 127652585

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 15 botanical countries

Regions where Styrax japonicus is native: China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Hainan, Japan, Korea, Nansei-shoto, Taiwan, Tibet, East Himalaya, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam China North-CentralChina South-CentralChina SoutheastHainanJapanTaiwanTibetEast HimalayaLaosMyanmarNepalPhilippinesVietnam KoreaNansei-shoto
Native distribution of Styrax japonicus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
China North-Central CHN ASIA-TEMPERATE
China South-Central CHC
China Southeast CHS
Hainan CHH
Japan JAP
Korea KOR
Nansei-shoto NNS
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
East Himalaya EHM ASIA-TROPICAL
Laos LAO
Myanmar MYA
Nepal NEP
Philippines PHI
Vietnam VIE

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 27 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Cyrta japonica (Siebold & Zucc.) Miers
  • Styrax bodinieri H.Lév.
  • Styrax cavaleriei H.Lév.
  • Styrax duclouxii Perkins
  • Styrax grandiflorus Griff.
  • Styrax japonicus f. angustifolius (Koidz.) Sugim.
  • Styrax japonicus f. jippei-kawakamii (Yanagita) T.Yamaz.
  • Styrax japonicus f. parviflorus Y.Kimura
  • Styrax japonicus f. pendulus T.Yamaz.
  • Styrax japonicus f. rubicalyx Satomi
  • Styrax japonicus f. tomentosus (Hatus.) T.Yamaz.
  • Styrax japonicus f. zigzag (Koidz.) Sugim.
  • Styrax japonicus var. angustifolius Koidz.
  • Styrax japonicus var. calycothrix Gilg
  • Styrax japonicus var. iriomotensis Masam.
  • Styrax japonicus var. japonicus
  • Styrax japonicus var. jippei-kawamurae (Yanagita) H.Hara
  • Styrax japonicus var. kotoensis (Hayata) Masam. & Suzuki
  • Styrax japonicus var. longipedunculatus Z.Ying Zhang
  • Styrax japonicus var. nervillosus Z.Ying Zhang
  • Styrax japonicus var. tomentosus Hatus.
  • Styrax japonicus var. zigzag Koidz.
  • Styrax jippei-kawamurae Yanagita
  • Styrax kotoensis Hayata

and 3 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.