It is a vigorous, fast-growing deciduous shrub or tree growing to 8 m (26 ft) tall by 10 m (33 ft) broad, bearing masses of pendent, bell-shaped white flowers which appear in spring before the leaves.

It is principally in the panhandle of Florida, with isolated smaller outlier populations in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi.

Four principal species names have been used: H. carolina, H. parviflora, H. monticola, and H. tetraptera.

[8] In cultivation in the United Kingdom, H. carolina Vestita Group has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

[9][10] It requires an acid or neutral soil, in a partially shaded position.