• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Cure Nursery

Native Plants of the Southeast

  • Home
  • All Plants
    • Search Our Plants by Plant Characteristics
    • Alphabetical by Scientific Name
    • Search Our Plants by Common Names
  • Availability & Pricing – Winter/Spring 2021
  • Resources
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Hamamelis virginiana
Witchhazel Witch-hazel, American Witch-hazel, Common Witch-hazel, Winterbloom, Snapping Hazelnut, Striped Alder, Spotted Alder, Tobacco-wood, Water-witch

Photo by Cure Nursery

Common Witchhazel is a deciduous shrub 12-18′ tall, and sometimes taller, famous for producing its aromatic, crinkly yellow flowers as it drops its foliage in late October/early November. Seeds from the previous season are ready for dispersal at the same time, and are expelled with some force from their capsules. Witchhazel can be single-stemmed with a trunk up to 1 foot across, or have several somewhat twisted basal stems, forming an irregular open crown. It occurs throughout eastern North America, from Nova Scotia to Florida and from the Great Lakes to eastern Texas. Early settlers learned from Native Americans how to use forked limbs of the Witchhazel as dowsing or divining rods, a practice that persists into our science-dominated era. Also, the bark is still gathered in large quantities in the Southern Appalachians, as the source for witchhazel liniment. But this interesting shrub is grown most often because of its spark of fresh, bright yellow flowers at a moment when all else of color has faded from the woods. Witchhazel is an understory plant and greatly prefers rich, moist soils in dappled sunlight, as on a north-facing slope, though full light can stimulate more flowering if soil moisture is sufficient.

Last Updated: June 14, 2019

Key Info

Scientific Name: Hamamelis virginiana L.
Common Names: Witchhazel Witch-hazel, American Witch-hazel, Common Witch-hazel, Winterbloom, Snapping Hazelnut, Striped Alder, Spotted Alder, Tobacco-wood, Water-witch
Family Name: Hamamelidaceae
Plant Type: Tree / Shrub
Uses: Rain Garden, Shrub Border, Woodland Garden, Naturalizing, Specimen, Hedge, Foundation
Light Requirement: Full shade-bright, Partial/shady
Moisture Requirement: Moist well drained
Leaf Retention: Deciduous
Bloom Times: Oct, Nov
Flower Color: Yellow
Special Characteristics: Good fall color, Attracts birds, Tolerates shade, Flowers fragrant, Tolerates urban pollution, Foliage fragrant, Tolerates wet soils, Tolerates poor soil

Additional Info

Habit: This shrub may be single-stemmed or have several branched basal stems. Branches are often crooked, forming an irregular, open crown, with medium texture. Bark is smooth and gray. The root system is a branched taproot. Witchhazel spreads by seeds.
Height: 12-18'
Spread: 12-18'
Growth Rate: Moderate to slow
Soil Conditions: Moist, acidic, organically rich, well-drained soils: sandy, sandy loam, medium loam, clay loam, clay
Leaves: Leaves are alternate, simple, broadly oval, 2.5 to 6 inches long, the base often asymmetrical, with dentate to wavy margins and with the upper surface dark green and the lower surface a paler green. In fall they turn warm golden before dropping.
Flowers (or reproductive structures): Flowering begins in about the sixth year. The flowers, which exude a spicy fragrance, appear on upper branches. They consist of 4 very slender, creamy-to-bright yellow, straplike petals ½ to ¾ inch long, 4 smaller sepals, 4 fertile stamens and a pair of short styles. The petals of often contorted.These appear in mid to late fall, lasting 2-3 weeks.
Fruit: Fertilized flowers will form fruit which begin as greenish seed capsules and become woody with age. Each seed capsule splits open in fall of the following year (during flowering), exploding the seeds within up to 20 or even 30 feet. Seeds are about ¼ inch long, ellipsoid, shiny, and black. Once ejected, the seeds then take an additional year to germinate.
Natural Distribution: Moist woods, thickets, bottomlands
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8
USDA Wetland Indicator Status in NC: FACU
Pollination: Flowers are pollinated by winter-flying noctuid moths.
Wildlife Connections: The nectar and pollen of the flowers attract primarily flies and wasps, as well as bees, bugs, moths and beetles. A long list of other insects (weevils, leafhoppers, more beetles, gall flies, aphids etc.) feed on the leaves. Song birds, Ruffed Grouse, Wild Turkey, Fox, Squirrel and other small mammals eat the fruits (small brown capsules). Cottontail Rabbits browse on seedlings. White-tailed deer browse the leaves and seed capsules.Witch Hazel provides cover and nesting habitat for the Indigo Bunting and probably other birds.(Illinoiswildflowers.info)
Cultural Notes: Some report that more sun results in greater flowering, but more sun should be accompanied by more moisture or the shrub will suffer. It prefers rich moist soils and requires regular watering while being established.
Downside: No serious insect or disease problems. Galls of wasps may appear on the leaves.
Propagation: American witchhazel can be grown from seeds that have been cold stratified.
USDA/NRCS Plant Distribution Map: View Map at USDA.gov

Availability

Footer

contact us

facebook.com/curenursery
curenursery@earthlink.net
Office: (919) 542-6186

Appointments: (919) 885-8642

Who we are

Cure Nursery is a small nursery propagating and selling native plants for the Southeastern U.S. We are located near the town of Pittsboro, Chatham County, in central NC.

our hours

Cure Nursery operates by appointment only. Call us or email us to arrange a time to come out, or for delivery.

Copyright © 2021 Cure Nursery · All Rights Reserved · Resources · Website by Tomatillo Design