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Hamamelis virginiana L. Witch-hazel

A leafy shoot in spring

Habitat

Witch-hazel occurs on moist, moderately to well-drained soils in the understorey of open woods, at forest edges, on slopes of ravines, and sometimes on gravelly lake shores.

Shrub with crooked stem in the understory

Form

Witch-hazel is usually a large, spreading shrub with many crooked stems, but it can take the form of a small tree and reach heights of up to 6 m and stem diameters of up to 15 cm. The crown is irregularly rounded to outwardly arching.

Morphology

The leaves are deciduous, simple, short-petioled, and alternately arranged. Each leaf is 6–15 cm long, irregularly oval, rounded, or obovate, and often uneven sided with an asymmetrical base. The margins are wavy to coarsely toothed, especially above the middle and on the flanks towards the bluntly rounded, or short-pointed, tip. The five to seven secondary veins on each side are widely spaced, straight, and angled forward.

Twigs with unevenly spaced buds, and developing fruits(on side shoot from twig at right)

The twigs are yellowish brown, somewhat hairy at first, but mostly hairless by autumn. Terminal buds are up to 14 mm long, flattened and usually curved, with a dense coat of short, yellowish-brown hairs on the exposed surfaces of the first preformed leaves—there are no bud scales. The lateral buds are smaller, but similar, and sometimes two are set one above the other at a leaf scar. Leaf scars are slightly raised and oval to triangular, with three vein scars.

Clusters of flowers, each with four long yellow petals, Steptember

The flowers are usually borne in clusters of three in leaf axils, and they bloom from September to October. They each have four, 15- to 20-mm long, strap-shaped, twisted, bright yellow petals, which show up well among the leaves as they turn from green to yellow, or as the leaves are falling.

Fruits develop slowly at the base of the flowers. Through the following summer, they become distinctive green, closely downy, broad capsules, indented into two protrusions at the tip and skirted below the middle by the enlarged, cup-shaped remnants of the flower’s calyx. The 8- to12-mm long capsules turn yellowish green then pale brown in the autumn, and split open explosively to eject two shiny black seeds that may be projected several meters. Empty capsules remain on the branches for a further year or so.

Ripening full-grown fruits (capsules), September

The young bark is smooth and light greenish brown. As the bark ages, it becomes slightly scaly, mottled, and greyish brown.

Bark of stem, 3 cm in diameter

Notes

A forked twig of European witch-hazel was the tool of choice for water diviners. This use may have given rise to the plant’s name.

The bark, branches, and leaves yield a volatile oil, with a distinctive aroma, that is used in pharmaceuticals such as body rubs, skin lotions, and eyewashes.

The fall flowering provides an interesting feature for landscape and garden plantings. Thus, witch-hazel has use as an ornamental and some cultivars have been developed for that purpose.