Witch-hazel flowers
Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is a large shrub or small tree that blooms in the fall in Michigan. It grows in the Lower Peninsula and the western half of the Upper Peninsula. Outside of Michigan, it grows throughout the eastern United States reaching its western limit in Texas and Oklahoma. It is the last of our native woody plants to blossom. The flowers appear in most years after the plant has dropped its leaves. The yellow flowers with their four wiry petals form a pretty sight in the fall woods.
Witch-hazel, Oakland Co., Michigan
Witch-hazel, Tenhave Woods, Oakland Co., Michigan.
The seeds ripen about the same time as the plant flowers. The seedpods shoot the seeds ten to fifteen feet. When I was a boy in Middle School, I had a Witch-Hazel branch with seedpods in my bedroom. (Doesn’t every boy go through this stage?) During the night, I heard a strange “Ping.” The seedpods were drying out and shooting their hard BB-sized seeds against my bedroom mirror.
Spiny Witch-hazel Gall
This plant also produces Spiny Witch-hazel Galls. An aphid crawls into a leaf bud and secretes an enzyme. The irritation causes the plant to produce the gall around the aphid. The aphid reproduces within the gall and the gall provides a food source for the young. The life-cycle is more complex than this involving a secondary plant species host and some broods that are solely females. I cut open a gall from my garden, expecting it to be solid, but instead I discovered it was hollow. Several female aphids (the ones with wings) and at least one male were inside.
I love to see these flowers on their bare branches as I walk though the fall woods. Get out into a rich woods and see if you can find these last flowers of the year.
Spiny Witch-hazel Gall with Aphids
Does witch hazel grow in oscoda mi.do you know
Yes, witch hazel is found in that part of the state.
What kind of area does it grow in like dry or swampy
It likes dry to medium soil moisture.
Can you tell me what creates the explosion? Where does the power come from to eject that seed? Is it grown under pressure? Does heat have anything to do with it?
Cecil Billington in his classic book Shrubs of Michigan writes: “the Witch-hazel ‘shoots’ its seeds a considerable distance. The shooting is accomplished by a constriction of the lining of the capsule upon the smooth, hard-polished seeds. This contraction continues until the enclosed seeds are explosively discharged, as one might shoot a slippery apple- or melon-seed between the thumb and finger.” It is the drying of the seed pods that causes the seeds to be expelled and this does not need to be caused by heat. Seeds are dispersed in the wild during the autumn months when it can be cool.
Can This be found in jackson michigan?
It occurs throughout the state, so yes it can be found in Jackson.
Do deer eat witch hazel?
Yes, deer will eat almost anything.