Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Hamamelis virginiana
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| American witchhazel. Creative Commons image by James H. Miller & Ted Bodner, Southern Weed Science Society, Bugwood.org. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Hamamelis virginiana
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION:
Coladonato, Milo. 1993. Hamamelis virginiana. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/hamvir/all.html [].
Updates: On 29 January 2018, the common name of the species was changed in FEIS from: witch-hazel
to: American witchhazel. Photos and the map were also added.
ABBREVIATION:
HAMVIR
SYNONYMS:
Hamamelis virginiana var. parvifolia Nutt. [3], prarie peninsula
SCS PLANT CODE:
HAVI4
COMMON NAMES:
American witchhazel
witch-hazel
TAXONOMY:
The scientific name for American witchhazel is Hamamelis virginiana L. [24].
LIFE FORM:
Tree, Shrub
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS:
No special status
OTHER STATUS:
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Hamamelis virginiana
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:
American witchhazel occurs throughout the northeastern and southeastern United
States. It extends from the Appalachian Mountains south to the northern
Florida Panhandle and west from the mountains into Indiana, Illinois,
Iowa, Minnesota, western Kentucky, eastern Missouri, eastern Oklahoma,
and eastern Texas. At its northern limit, American witchhazel ranges along the
southern border of Canada from southern Ontario to southern Nova Scotia.
Isolated populations occur in south-central Texas and east-central Mexico at its
southern limit [3,12,25,32,40].
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| Distribution of American witchhazel. 1977 USDA, Forest Service map digitized by Thompson and others [40]. |
ECOSYSTEMS:
FRES10 White - red - jack pine
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
STATES:
AL AR CT DE FL GA IL IN IA KY
LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO NH NJ
NY NC OH OK PA SC TN TX VT VA
WV NB NS ON PQ
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS:
NO-ENTRY
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:
K095 Great Lakes pine forest
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K097 Southeastern spruce - fir forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K101 Elm - ash forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K104 Appalachian oak forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
K113 Southern floodplain forest
SAF COVER TYPES:
14 Northern pin oak
17 Pin cherry
19 Gray birch - red maple
20 White pine - northern red oak - red maple
21 Eastern white pine
22 White pine - hemlock
23 Eastern hemlock
24 Hemlock - yellow birch
25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
28 Black cherry - maple
31 Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
32 Red spruce
40 Post oak - blackjack oak
42 Bur oak
43 Bear oak
44 Chestnut oak
45 Pitch pine
51 White pine - chestnut oak
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
53 White oak
55 Northern red oak
57 Yellow-poplar
59 Yellow-poplar - white oak - northern red oak
60 Beech - sugar maple
62 Silver maple - American elm
64 Sassafras - persimmon
75 Shortleaf pine
79 Virginia pine
80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
81 Loblolly pine
82 Loblolly pine - hardwood
83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
93 Sugarberry - American elm - green ash
97 Atlantic white-cedar
108 Red maple
110 Black oak
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES:
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Hamamelis virginiana
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:
The fruit of American witchhazel is eaten by ruffed grouse, northern bobwhite,
ring-necked pheasant, and white-tailed deer. The fruit is also
frequently eaten by beaver and cottontail rabbit [11,35].
American witchhazel fruit is a minor fall food for black bear in western
Massachusetts [15].
PALATABILITY:
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES:
Medicinal extracts, lotions, and salves are prepared from the leaves,
twigs, and bark of American witchhazel. The distillate is used to reduce
inflammation, stop bleeding, and check secretions of the mucous
membranes. Extracts of the twigs were also believed to infuse the
imbiber with occult powers [36,37].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
American witchhazel competes with more desirable hardwoods for available light
and moisture [26]. Its dense cover inhibits seed germination of
intolerant species [9].
Blair and Burnett [2] reported that American witchhazel, along with Carolina
jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), sweetgum
(Liquidambar styraciflua), red maple (Acer rubrum), and post oak
(Quercus stellata), declined by 94.7 percent collectively after logging.
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Hamamelis virginiana
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
American witchhazel is a deciduous shrub or small tree with a short trunk,
bearing numerous spreading, crooked branches. At maturity, it is
commonly 15 to 25 (4.5-7.5 m) feet tall. It has thin bark and shallow
roots. The fruit is a woody capsule containing two to four seeds
[19,20,21,23].
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| American witchhazel flower. Creative Commons image by Vern Wilkins, Indiana University, Bugwood.org. |
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM:
Phanerophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES:
American witchhazel reproduces mainly by seed. After maturing the capsules
burst open, explosively discharging their seeds several yards from the
parent plant. There is limited dispersal by birds. The seeds germinate
the second year after dispersal [5,29]. Brinkman [4] reported that
American witchhazel can be propagated by layering.
SITE CHARACTERISTICS:
American witchhazel is found on a variety of sites but is most abundant in mesic
woods and bottoms. In the western and southern parts of its range, it
is confined to moist cool valleys, moist flats, north and east slopes,
coves, benches, and ravines. In the northern part of its range, it is
found on drier and warmer sites of slopes and hilltops [1,6,8,27].
In addition to those species listed under Distribution and Occurrence,
common tree and shrub associates of American witchhazel include white ash
(Fraxinus americana), blackgum, mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia),
blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), rhododendron (Rhododendron spp.), pepperbush
(Clethra acuminata), sweetgum, flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), and
eastern hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) [6,7,20,30].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS:
American witchhazel is a shade-tolerant, mid- to late-seral species. It
sometimes forms a solid understory in second-growth and old-growth
forests in the eastern United States [9,13,14].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT:
The flowers of American witchhazel open in September and October, and the fruit
ripens the next fall. Shortly after ripening, the capsules burst open,
discharging their seed [4,5].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Hamamelis virginiana
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:
DeBruyn and Buckner [10] rated American witchhazel low in fire resistance. This
is probably due to its thin bark, shallow roots, and low-branching
habit. Fire survival strategies were not given.
FIRE REGIMES:
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY:
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Hamamelis virginiana
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:
American witchhazel is readily killed by fire. In a prescribed fire in a
loblolly pine community in western Tennessee, witch hazel suffered 54
percent mortality [10].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT:
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:
American witchhazel's response to fire is not well documented. Literature
suggests that it is generally a fire decreaser, although pre- and
postfire/unburned control comparisions were unavailable as of 1993
[17,31,38].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE:
On the George Washington National Forest, West Virginia, a spring prescribed
fire increased American witchhazel seedling density in a mixed-hardwood forest.
Average American witchhazel seedling densities before fire and in postfire year 5
were 290 and 365 seedlings/acre, respectively; American witchhazel sprout densities
were 395 sprouts/acre before and 184 sprouts/acre 5 years after the fire.
See the Research Paper of Wendel and Smith's [39] study for details on
the fire prescription and fire effects on American witchhazel and 6 other tree
species.
The following Research Project Summaries provide information on prescribed
fire use and postfire response of plant community species, including
American witchhazel, that was not available when this species review was originally
written:
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
NO ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Hamamelis virginiana
REFERENCES:
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FEIS Home Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/hamvir/all.html
