''Hamamelis vernalis'', the Ozark witchhazel (or witch-hazel) is a species of flowering plant in the witch-hazel family Hamamelidaceae, native to the

Ozark Plateau The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cov ...

in central

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. It is a large

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub growing to tall.

Description

''Hamamelis vernalis'' spreads by

stolon In biology, a stolon ( from Latin ''wikt:stolo, stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal ...

iferous root sprouts. The leaves are oval, long and broad, cuneate to slightly oblique at the base, acute or rounded at the apex. They have a wavy-toothed or shallowly lobed margin, and a short, stout petiole long. The leaves are dark green above, and glaucous beneath, and often persist into the early winter. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are deep to bright red, rarely yellow, with four ribbon-shaped petals long and four short stamens, and grow in clusters. Flowering begins in mid winter and continues until early spring. The Latin

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

means "spring-flowering". The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

is a hard woody capsule long, which splits explosively at the apex at maturity one year after pollination, ejecting the two shiny black

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s up to distant from the parent plant. Although often occurring with the related ''

Hamamelis virginiana ''Hamamelis virginiana'', known as witch-hazel, common witch-hazel, American witch-hazel and beadwood, is a species of flowering shrub native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, and south to central Florida to eastern Te ...

'', ''H. vernalis'' does not intergrade, and can be distinguished by its flowering in late winter (December to March in its native range), rather than fall.

Cultivation and uses

''Hamamelis vernalis'' is valued in cultivation for its strongly scented flowers appearing in late winter, when little else is growing. Several

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s have been selected, mainly for variation in flower color, including 'Carnea' (pink flowers), 'Red Imp' (petals red with orange tips), and 'Squib' (vivid yellow flowers).Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan . Hamamelis vernalis.jpg, New foliage, spent flowers Hamamelis vernalis (Ozark Witch-hazel) (32157870000).jpg Hamamelis vernalis ( Ozark Witch-hazel, Vernal Witch-hazel) (34280102006).jpg Hamamelis vernalis 'Autumn embers', Morris Arboretum 01.jpg, Flowers of Hamamelis vernalis 'Autumn embers' (copper-red)

References

External links

*
Missouri Botanical Garden, Kemper Center for Home Gardening: ''Hamamelis vernalis''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1151064 Hamamelidaceae Flora of Arkansas Flora of Missouri Flora of Oklahoma Ozarks Endemic flora of the United States Trees of Northern America Garden plants of North America Flora without expected TNC conservation status