Hamamelis intermedia seed

LATIN NAME: Hamamelis intermedia

COMMON NAME: Witch Hazel

The witch hazel is a handsome, upright, spreading, deciduous shrub of the gardens, and its fine, broad, oval, wavy-edged leaves and its clusters of the many small, ribbon-like, bright-yellow or orange, fragrant flowers of the late winter have made it a treasure among the cheerful shrubs of the cold season. It grows as an upright, spreading, many-branched, deciduous shrub, reaching up to four metres or so, with the upright, spreading branches bearing the alternate, broad, oval, pointed, wavy-edged leaves and, through the late winter and the early spring, the clusters of the many small, ribbon-like, bright-yellow or orange, spidery, fragrant flowers, followed by the small, round, woody, two-seeded capsules. It is a species of the flowering shrub in the witch hazel family, and it is the garden hybrid of the eastern Asian species, while it is grown as a treasured ornamental shrub, and it is known as the witch hazel.

In the witch hazel family it is the winter-flowering member of a small and ancient clan, the shrub that refuses to wait for the spring.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The witch hazel carries a recognised place in the study of the early-flowering shrubs, and the timing of its ribbon-like, fragrant flowers has kept the phenologists busy for years. The leaves and the bark have their own long record in the traditional plant chemistry of the many lands, and the constituents behind the old uses of the witch hazel have been examined by the natural-product chemists with care. The horticulturists have bred and selected the garden hybrids for the winter colour, and the breeders of the cold-season shrubs keep the species in their programmes. It is a shrub that gives the scientists a fine puzzle and the gardeners a fine show.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the winter garden, the witch hazel is the bright surprise of the coldest weeks. Its spidery, ribbon-like, yellow or orange flowers are an early source of the nectar for the few insects of the late winter, and its broad, leafy growth gives the border a calm, generous structure through the rest of the year. The leaves and the bark have served the traditional preparations of the many lands, and the garden forms have made the shrub a treasured feature of the winter border. It grows well in the leafy, acid, well-drained ground of the sheltered spot. Spidery, yellow and winter-bright.

Wrap the seeds in a little damp moss inside a labelled bag and tuck it into the fridge for a good spell of cold, then sow them in pots of leafy, acid, free-draining soil at a shallow depth, keep the pots cool and evenly damp, and give them a sheltered spot out of the strong sun, and the first green shoots will appear with all the patience of a plant that blooms in winter.