American Witch Hazel Tree Seeds (Hamamelis virginiana)

The last thing to bloom in fall. The first medicine from the forest.

Hamamelis virginiana, the American Witch Hazel, blooms in November and December after every other tree has dropped its leaves, producing clusters of spidery, fragrant yellow flowers on bare stems at the exact moment when the rest of the landscape has surrendered to dormancy. It is the only woody plant in eastern North America that blooms in late fall, making it one of the most extraordinary and unexpected ornamental shrubs available to the temperate gardener. It is also the source of witch hazel extract, one of the oldest and most widely used botanical medicines in North America, present in medicine cabinets from colonial times to the present day. If you are looking to buy Witch Hazel seeds or grow this native shrub from seed, this is a plant that surprises everyone who encounters it blooming in November.

• The only woody plant in eastern North America that blooms in late fall and early winter on bare stems
• Spidery yellow flowers with a sweet, faintly spicy fragrance appearing after all other trees go dormant
• The original source of witch hazel extract, one of the oldest botanical medicines in North America
• Native to the eastern United States, adaptable to shade, sun, wet, and dry sites
• Brilliant yellow and orange fall foliage before the late-season blooms emerge

Things you probably did not know about the American Witch Hazel

The seeds are ejected ballistically up to 30 feet from the parent plant. When Witch Hazel seed capsules dry and contract in late fall, they build tension that is released explosively, launching seeds at speeds measured at over 30 feet per second. The seeds can travel 30 to 40 feet from the parent plant in a single ejection. This ballistic dispersal mechanism has been studied by mechanical engineers for its elegant natural spring design.

The witch in the name has nothing to do with witchcraft. The name derives from the Old English word wiche or wych, meaning flexible or pliant, describing the bendable quality of the branches. This same root gives us the wych elm of Britain. The name was applied to the American plant by early settlers who recognized the flexible branches as similar to Old World witch trees used for water dowsing, but the word itself is botanical, not supernatural.

Witch hazel extract has been in continuous commercial production since 1866. The Dickinson Company began steam-distilling Witch Hazel extract in Essex, Connecticut in 1866 and has been producing it continuously ever since from wild-harvested and cultivated Hamamelis virginiana. It is one of the longest-running commercially produced botanical medicines in American history and remains a standard ingredient in astringent skin products, aftershaves, and hemorrhoid treatments.

It blooms while carrying fruit from last year's flowers. American Witch Hazel takes a full year for its fruit to ripen after flowering. When the new November flowers open, the capsules from the previous year's flowering are simultaneously ripening and preparing to eject their seeds. A single branch in fall carries flowers, ripening seed capsules, and the leafless architecture of the shrub all at once.

Growing Details

• Botanical Name: Hamamelis virginiana
• Stratification: Required, warm stratification of 60 to 90 days followed by 90 days cold stratification
• USDA Zones: 3 to 8
• Soil: Adaptable, prefers moist, acidic, well-drained soil but tolerates a range of conditions
• Light: Full sun to partial shade
• Height: 15 to 20 feet
• Spread: 15 to 20 feet
• Growth Rate: Slow to moderate, 1 to 2 feet per year

Plant it where you will see it from a window in November. When everything else is gray and bare and the Witch Hazel is blooming, you will feel like you discovered something nobody else knows about.