''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, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant porti ...

in central

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, in

Missouri Missouri 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 is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. 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 leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub growing to tall.

Description

''Hamamelis vernalis'' spreads by

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

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 A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

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, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

means "spring-flowering". The

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

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

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

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, and American witch-hazel, is a species of flowering shrub native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, and south to central Florida to eastern Texas. Des ...

'', ''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 type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

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

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 the Plains-Midwest (United States) Garden plants of North America Flora without expected TNC conservation status