Highlights

What New England woodland shrub blooms in November and December? 

Witch hazel flowers after their leaves have fallen for the winter. The flowers are yellow and grouped in small clusters each with four curly petals and four squat stamens (male pollen producing organ) surrounding the pistil (female part that develops into the seed capsule).

The seed capsule, at maturity, splits open and explosively ejects its two shiny black seeds propelling them twenty to thirty feet from the parent plant.

Witch Hazel shrubs are common locally. They are an understory shrub preferring the partial shade found beneath maple, oak and hickory trees. They reach eight to twelve feet in height and the multiple trunks, one to five inches in diameter, are covered by smooth grey bark.

Leaves of the witch hazel are oval with wavy edges, dark green and downy and three to five inches in length. Leaves turn bright yellow just before falling in October. The “hazel,” in witch hazel, comes from the leaf’s resemblance to those of the hazelnut shrub.

The “witch” moniker comes from its traditional use as the best material for making “water witches” …also known as divining or dowsing rods …used to find underground water. Some folks, today, still use witch hazel branches for that purpose. 

Witch hazel also has many other uses. Early New England colonists learned of these from the local Indians. Witch hazel contains a volatile oil that is astringent and antiseptic. It is still widely used (you can buy distilled witch hazel at your local pharmacy), for a number of minor conditions. Young witch hazel leaves and twigs can also be brewed as a “tea.”

Witch hazel is nibbled on by many insects, but they rarely present a problem to a healthy witch hazel shrub. Deer, which will devour just about any woodland vegetation, tend to leave witch hazel alone. Witch hazel seeds, however, are relished by many seed eating birds and rodents.