Is blooming now (March) on the ditch banks in Nichols, South Carlina.
Hi Betty,
you have a nice native shrub there, often called horse sugar because the leaves are sweet when munched upon. The scientific name is Symplocos tinctoria, and it was also used as a dye plant in the past. It is our only native member of the mostly tropical family Symplocaceae.
There are many sites on the Internet with more information. Here is one of these: http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Symplocos+tinctoria
Sincerely,
Steve Hill, Botanist, SCNPS