Hamamelis vernalis
Origin: Ozarks (via New Jersey)
Improvement status: Cultivated
Seeds per packet: ~20
BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED
Life cycle: Perennial
Ozark witch hazel is a close cousin of the more widespread and better-known American witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), but it differs in some major ways. For one, it has a much smaller native range, confined to a small region of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, though it can be grown much farther afield. It also flowers in late winter through early spring, while the American witch hazel flowers in late fall through early winter. Ozark witch hazel differs as well in usually having red flowers (very rarely yellow). It's also regularly used as a landscaping plant.
The name "witch hazel" said to derive from the long tradition of using a branch of the plant as divining rods for "dowsing" for water (using sticks to divine where the best place is to dig a well, since the twigs are said to bend slightly downward water over a good spot, and the Middle English word "wiche" means "pliant or bendable"!). The plants can reach 13 feet high and 8 feet wide.
While the more common American witch hazel has been studied and utilized extensively as a medicinal plant, there is very little written about this lesser-known species. However, given its overall similarities, is assumed to be similarly useful (see our write-up about American witch hazel for a full rundown of its medicinal uses).
These New Jersey-grown seeds come to us from the good folks at Sheffield's Seeds in Locke, NY.
GROWING TIPS: Soak seeds for 24 hours then warm-moist stratify for 120 days and cold stratify for 90 days. Sowing outdoors in the late summer or fall may also be effective. Germination should be expected to be slow (some seeds may take 2 or 3 years to sprout). Choose a well-drained spot with dappled sun for best results. Can do OK in full sun and full shade too, but won't grow as fast.
