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Witch hazel is right on schedule

2008 December 11

Originally published December 10, 2008
Photo by Ken Moore. Witch hazel flowers best in full sun
Photo by Ken Moore. Witch hazel flowers best in full sun

Ken Moore

It’s always a surprise to come upon the yellow flowering witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana, in the winter woods. How can a small native tree have flowers in the cold of early December? Well, that’s just one of nature’s mysterious ways, and as Dave Cook describes in The Piedmont Almanac, “Witch hazel is the proverbial ‘late bloomer’ of the Piedmont.” As in early Decembers past, the common wild witch hazel is right on schedule, holding fast to its thin four-petaled flowers even in our recent bitter cold temperatures. If you take a closer look, you may be rewarded with a whiff of the softly fragrant flowers when they are warmed by the sun streaming through the recently opened canopy.

A misidentification by early English settlers and a down-through-the-ages misspelling accounts for the common name, witch hazel. Those pioneers called this little native tree a hazel because it looked like the hazel trees of their homeland. They learned that the Native-Americans used the pliable branches to locate underground water sources in the same way the English used their native wych elm, “wych” being the old English word for “pliable branches.” Though not at all related to the American hazelnuts, Corylus species, and having nothing to do with witches, the common name has been handed down through the ages to us as witch hazel. Some folks still trust witch hazel branches as divining rods.

The pioneers also learned the importance of the witch hazel for its many medicinal uses, one of which was a decoction or infusion of the bark to soothe skin wounds and irritations. The presence of witch hazel extracts on our local pharmacy shelves today indicates that we haven’t completely rejected our herbal medicinal heritage.

I recall a mountain wildflower excursion several years ago into a forest frequented by a local herb gatherer. Many of the trunks of the witch hazels had been striped bare of the bark for sale to the drug industry. Such girdling of the trunks was not good for the trees, but fortunately the species does have the characteristic of responding with stump sprouts that in time can become vigorous plants.

I most frequently encounter wild witch hazels growing on tree-shaded creek bluffs, where they flower only sparingly. However, I remember years ago seeing a witch hazel on a mountain valley creek bank in full sun that was a spectacular blaze of yellow flowers!

Witch hazels make fine garden plants. Most gardeners prefer the gaudier-flowered cultivars of Hamamelis x intermedia, a hybrid between Chinese witch hazel, H. mollis, and Japanese witch hazel, H. japonica, which are appealing February and March flowering shrubs.

My personal favorite for the garden is our common small-tree witch hazel, which grows well in shade or full sun; but remember, the more sun, the more flowers, and this beauty rewards you with flowers in November and December.

For a welcome break from holiday preparation stress, take a walking break in search of the witch hazel along some local creek bank.

Note: I will be taking a winter walk on the Adams Tract on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 2:00 p.m. You are welcome to join me and bring some kids along to help us “take a closer look.” We’ll begin at the trailhead kiosk below the playground at Wilson Park on Williams Street in Carrboro. See you there.

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