Big Leaf Witchhazel
 

Mature Size, Growth, Longevity

A suckering, colonizing shrub, 8-16' tall and wide, sometimes to18' tall and wide, producing short, shallow runners (rhizomes) for spreading.

Native Range

U.S. Native — Found in shallow ravines & on higher adjacent slopes in dry woods in southern Mississippi. Found under a canopy of longleaf southern pines & mixed hardwoods where prescribed burning takes place. Also found in Alabama, Georgia, Florida & Texas.

Flower and Fruit Details

Clustered small flowers with strap-shaped petals. Flowers are 1-1.5" across, maroon, scarlet, rose, red-orange, pinkish or red with yellow to orange or peach-colored tips. Flowers bloom in January and February, with a musty, floral scent. Fruit is a brown, dehiscent capsule, splitting open and releasing seeds in the fall.

Leaf and Bark Features

Deciduous: Leaves are alternate, broad-ovate, 2-3 times larger than the common eastern witchhazel, much resembling the leaves of hazelnut. The attractive leaves are dark green on top, very hairy/tomentose beneath, 5-9" long and 2-6" wide. Leaves have a wavy margin. New leaves are white beneath, and veins beneath are usually darker than their surrounding leaf tissue. Brown twigs with prominent raised lenticels.

Culture and Care

Tolerates drought and sun or shade. Does best in loamy soils that are acid to neutral pH, moist and well-drained. Zone 5-8 Resistant to Phyllosticta leaf blight fungus, and may be used in breeding work to add disease resistance to hybrid witchhazels.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Other Facts

4-season interest: Spring, summer, fall & winter. Deer will feed on this plant. A rare, endangered species, first discovered in the wild only in a very small area in the headwaters of one creek in S. Mississippi, where it was found by Steve Leonard in 2004.

Suggested Uses

Used in naturalizing, native plants gardens.

Taxa and Plants of this Species at BCA