Wych Witch Hazel Is Which?

Not to keep you in suspense – neither. Wych is an Old English alternative for wicce, or witch. This is turn derives from wicca, a wizard. Confusingly, Witch Hazel, botanically Hamamelia, is from Old English wice, pliant or bendable. Switches were used for divining for underground sources of water, possibly minerals as was Hazel, Corylus.

Yet the natural habitat Hamamelis of the half-dozen or so species are far from Britain, Europe or western Asia. They are natives to the Orient and North America, bearing unusual from late fall to early spring scented yellow, orange or red blooms.

The best-known is probably Virginia Witch Hazel Hamamelis virginiana, although not for its ornamental attributes. It is a large shrub or small tree, 10 to 15 feet in height. It bears yellow blooms late fall and even early winter after the equally coloured foliage has fallen. Found from southern Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia to Florida and Texas, west to Minnesota, it was first introduced into English gardens by botanist and keen gardener Peter Collinson (1694-1768). Today it is often a subject of wild or woodland gardens, and larger native plant gardens. Chinese Witch Hazel, H. mollis, is probably more common in cultivation today.

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