HAMAMELIDACEAE - - Witch-hazel Family

Hamamelis virginiana Linnaeus — Witch-hazel

Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) - Small tree or shrub; leaf-blades suborbicular, oval-elliptic or obovate, 4—15cm long, coursely crenate. Flowers perfect or polygamous, which are borne 3 together on short lateral peduncles. Petals yellow, linear or nearly so, 1—2cm long; capsule ovoid to sub-globose, 12—15mm long, abruptly beaked, elastically dehiscent. The bark is used medicinally. Hamamelis virginiana sometimes occurs with Fothergilla major (which is not nearly as common), with which it is easily confused if flowers or fruit are not present; a reliable character is the base of the lateral veins (marginal in Fothergilla, included in leaf tissue in Hamamelis). See photo below illustrating this feature by Rick Lewandowski.

Habitat:

Moist to dryish forests. The bark is still gathered in large quantities in the Southern Appalachians, as the source for witch hazel liniment. The name ‘witch-hazel’ alludes to its superficial resemblance to Corylus, the true hazel, and to its ‘perverse’ habit of flowering in the fall, as it drops its leaves.

Habitat information from:
Weakley, Alan S., Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, Working Draft of 21 May 2015.

The range of Hamamelis virginiana (Witch-hazel)

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)].

The Georgia range of Hamamelis virginiana (Witch-hazel)

Zomlefer, W.B., J.R. Carter, & D.E. Giannasi. 2014 (and ongoing). The Atlas of Georgia Plants. University of Georgia Herbarium (Athens, Georgia) and Valdosta State University Herbarium (Valdosta, Georgia). Available at: http://www.georgiaherbaria.org/.