Japanese Witch-Hazel (Hamamelis japonica) — identification, habitat & look-alikes

Japanese witch hazel is a late-winter-blooming shrub from Japan whose crinkled, ribbon-like yellow petals open on bare branches. It doesn't grow wild in the US, where it is planted in gardens and arboretums and is best known as one parent of the popular hybrid witch hazels (Hamamelis × intermedia).

Appearance

Growth form: A deciduous shrub or small tree with a wide, often flat-topped, spreading shape, usually 10–15 ft (3–4.5 m) tall.
Leaves: Oval to ovate leaves, 2–3½ in (5–9 cm) long, with wavy edges and a lopsided base. Fall color can be yellow, red, or purple.
Flowers: Lightly scented flowers with four narrow, strap-shaped, crumpled petals about ⅔ in (1.7 cm) long. The cup behind the petals is red, reddish brown, or greenish inside. Compared with Chinese witch hazel, petals are longer and wavier, but flowers are fewer.
Flowering time: In the US it blooms in late winter to early spring, around February and March, a little later than Chinese witch hazel.
Fruit: A small, hairy capsule that splits in two when ripe and flings out its black seeds.

Look-alikes

Hybrid witch hazelHamamelis × intermedia

Hard to tell from a photo. The hybrid usually has more abundant flowers, and many cultivars ('Diane', 'Jelena') have red or orange petals.

Why they get mixed upIt is a cross between this species and Chinese witch hazel and blooms at the same time.

Ozark witch hazelHamamelis vernalis

Ozark witch hazel has pale, fuzzy leaf undersides and spreads into thickets along gravelly streams. It grows wild in the Ozarks of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma; Japanese witch hazel is only seen planted.

Why they get mixed upBoth bloom in late winter, and both often have a red inside.

American witch hazelHamamelis virginiana

American witch hazel blooms in fall, October to December, often while its yellow leaves are still on the branches.

Why they get mixed upSame ribbon-like yellow petals.

Where it lives

Typical habitats: Gardens
Arboretums
Parks
Range: Native only to Japan. It does not grow wild in the US; you'll see it planted in gardens and arboretums.
Preferred conditions: Its flower buds are hardier than those of Chinese witch hazel (Hamamelis mollis). It is grown in USDA zones 5–8.
Flowering: Flowers Feb–Mar
Flowers Feb–Mar

Conservation

IUCN Red List: NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed

Culture and stories

Culture and stories: Charles Sargent collected seed of this species in Japan in 1892 for the Arnold Arboretum in Boston.
The hybrid Hamamelis × intermedia arose from seed collected at the Arnold Arboretum in 1928 and was named in 1945. One of those seedlings became the cultivar 'Arnold Promise'.