Witch Hazel in Bloom

I wrote about witch hazel in August, when the leaves were still bright green and the shrub was not yet in bloom. Walk the woodlands today and you will see the pale yellow flower petals sticking out like wild hair along the slender branches. This quirky understory woodland shrub blooms in late fall just as its seed pods from the previous year pop open, shooting their seeds 20 or 30 feet away.

The beautiful scalloped leaves have turned yellow, creating a soft glow beneath a canopy of hardwood trees. The leaves, borne on arching, layered branches, are slightly askew at the base, and with their wavy edges, are unlike any other woodland shrub.

Witch hazel leaves are starting to fall, even as the flowers remain into November. Even when fallen their leaves add color and form to the forest floor, among the granite rock, decaying wood, and curled, brown leaves of trees.

The witch hazel shares the forest understory with other shrubs.....

Maple-leaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium)
in shades of red with purple berries

Beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta),

a witch hazel look-a-like in its fall yellows,
but for its toothed, not wavy leaf edges

Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum), toothed, opposite leaves;
note witch hazel in the background