Time For a Witch Hunt

Picture that perfect fall afternoon hike: The sun warms the air from high overhead in an endless Carolina-blue November sky; the creek next to the trail murmurs softly. 

Stopping to take in the tranquillity and the beauty, you hear a distinctive pop and look down to see if you stepped on a twig. No, but there’s another pop and a noise like tiny pebbles falling on the dry leaves, then another pop—like the first couple of popcorn kernels placed in the skillet to test if the oil is hot enough.

A slight breeze fills the air with a mild citrus fragrance, and, in the dappled understory, you see the creamy yellow ribbon-like petals of witch hazel. Upon closer scrutiny, you find small woody seedpods blown apart at the tip (hence the popping sound). But what exactly is this bewitching wildflower?

Witch hazel at a glance

• Of the three species of witch hazel that grow in North America, Hamamelis virginiana is common to the Southern Appalachians. Greek in origin, Hamamelis means “together with fruit,” which refers to the fact that last year’s seedpods are present with this year’s flowers.

• H. virginiana flowers from October to December, making it one of the final wildflowers to bloom each season.

• Known for its medicinal qualities, witch hazel is widely accepted as an astringent, proven to provide relief for a number of skin ailments such as poison ivy, stings, and insect bites.

• Commonly a woody shrub, witch hazel often attains small-tree stature in the Southern Appalachians. A record specimen in Bedford, Virginia, stands nearly 35 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 1.4 feet.

• The scalloped leaves turn yellow in autumn, and the yellow flowers persist after the leaves fall. The force exerted when the drying seedpod finally rips apart can catapult the two small seeds—each about the size of a grain of rice—contained in each capsule up to 30 feet.

• And about that witch: The name has nothing to do with broomsticks or pointy hats. It’s a corruption of the old English “wych,” which means pliant or bendable—a characteristic that still makes witch hazel branches the divining rod of choice among mountain dowsers.