March 14, 2011
Witch Hazel, Hamamelis vernalis
A welcome sight for winter-weary Pond-walkers, this early spring blooming shrub is apparently pollinated by small insects that can survive the cold weather. H vernalis is native to the southern states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Our New England native witch hazel, H. virginiana, also has an unusual flowering habit: It blooms very late in the fall, after it and other shrubs have dropped their leaves. Its range extends east of the Mississippi from Nova Scotia to Florida.