Witch hazel, American Witch Hazel, Snapping Hazelnut, Hamamelis virginiana L., Native Minnesota Wildflower shrub, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Witch hazel	Hamamelis virginiana L.	Witch Hazel	Woodland	Autumn, late, sometimes after the Garden closes
Other names and notes	(American Witch Hazel, Snapping Hazelnut). A woodland shrub, reaching to 12 feet in height having several twisted branching trunks, with leaves that are broad and rounded and have shallow lobes. Leaves has a astringent, bitterish aromatic taste. The bark is smooth. The ragged looking flowers which bloom in groups of three and only in the autumn once the leaves begin to die, are very narrow with long yellow petals resembling twisted straps. They grow from the leaf axils. The pale brown woody fruit matures in the following summer, splitting a capsule and violently discharging two shiny black seeds, hence one of the common names - Snapping Hazelnut. The genus name is Greek and is believed to be derived from plants resemblance to an apple tree. Virginiana refers to the state of Virginia where the plant was first classified.


Above: The narrow strap like flowers.

Below: Gardener Cary George with the Witch Hazel blooms of Nov. 16, 1999. The last flowers of the season.	Above: A small specimen recently planted (2008). On older plants the leaves will drop before flowering. Below: The seed capsules in the Spring that when mature later in the season will discharge the black nuts.

	"The lingering flowers are one by one finishing their bloom. Yet there is one wild flower that will remain even until bleak November. It is the Witch Hazel, which waited late to bloom but now the woods brighten with the yellow fringy petals. After the large leaves have turned brilliant colors and long since fallen, almost overnight, the mass of yellow flowers appears." Martha Crone, Former Garden Curator, Published in The Fringed Gentian™ Vol. 8 #4 and Vol. 17 #4.

Notes: Eloise Butler recorded introducing this plant to the Garden on April 14, 1910 with three plants obtained from Jewell's Nursery in Lake City, MN. This plant was listed on Martha Crone's 1951 inventory of plants in the Garden at that time. The plant is native to Minnesota but only in six reported counties: Winona, Fillmore and Houston in the SE and Chisago, Stearns and Todd in Central MN. Distribution in North America is eastward from a line running from Manitoba to Texas. There is a very old Witch hazel growing near Station 31 (pictured above with Cary George). In May of 2000, Gardener Cary George planted a donated young plant on the uphill path to the Upland Garden from the back gate. It was in memory of Betty Bridgman, longtime member of The Friends and editor of the Friends' newsletter The Fringed Gentian™ and a renowned local poet. That plant is listed in the Minneapolis Heritage Tree List for cultural significance. In 2003 Cary George reported six specimens in the Garden. A number of young plants were installed in late 2008 in the area near the Mallard Pool. Special Concern: Witch Hazel is listed on the Minnesota DNR "Special Concern List." There is a fair amount of medicinal lore for this plant in the literature.

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References: Plant characteristics are generally from sources 15, 16, 30, 31, 33, W2 & W3. Distribution principally from W2 and also 31, 34 and W1. Planting history generally from 1, 4 & 4a. Other sources by specific reference. See Reference List for details.

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