'Tis the Season for Witch-hazel

Witch-hazel is Pennsylvania's only native woody plant to flower in the fall. Look for the four-petaled yellow flowers from now into December.

The beaked, brown capsules that remain from the past season will open and eject several black seeds, sometime to distances of 20 or 30 feet. But even with seeds flying about so dramatically, the germination rate for these seeds is very low and reproduction moves slowly and within short distances from the parent. This strategy is consistent with the slow-growing, shade-tolerant habit of the witch-hazel that lives for many decades under the forest canopy. Watch for the dispersal of the seeds and shortly after, watch for the shrub to bloom, beginning its late cycle once again.

Today's photo is by WPC Volunteer Land Steward Richard Liberto.

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