The unusual snow we had yesterday came and went in a flash. Fluffy, tasty looking specks of snow drifted down yesterday morning coating the brown ground and the few remaining leaves on the trees. Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) are one of the few trees holding onto their leaves resisting the urge to abandon their perches. Their reddening appendages are flecked with white adornments that slide off after becoming too weighty. And then it all disappears, returning the brown and greyish patina of the ground to my view. But beyond the maples, there are a still a few colorful trees out there with one of my favorite being witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana.)
Unlike most understory trees, witch hazel blooms in the late fall with delicate, little buttery yellow bundles of soft, slightly sweet smelling flowers. All the leaves have dropped but the flowers remain. Witch hazels are an unusual example of co-evolution as they are pollinated by the winter moth, which can raise its body temperature by 50 degrees through extreme shivering. In doing this, it can search for food, in this case the nectar of witch hazels. This tree is abundant in Connecticut, which is probably why the largest manufacturer of witch hazel, Dickenson’s, is located nearby. The tree has many medicinal uses such as healing sore muscles, an astringent clotting agent and a tea to cure colds and other ailments. Some even believe that by carrying a twig of it, it will mend a broken heart.
But I enjoy the witch hazel due to the unusual nature of a tree that flowers after everything else goes dormant giving us all a last opportunity to appreciate the color of what nature can provide.
