There has been one plant in bloom all winter long, and now its flowers are beginning to fade or have withered altogether. This remarkable native plant is a shrub, vernal witch hazel or Ozark witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis).
Like its widespread cousin in eastern North America, the common witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), both shrubs bloom once the vegetative period has ceased, although in some individual plants or populations the dried leaves continue to hang on the bush, making it easy to see the trees through the forest.
Ozark witch hazel starts blooming at the last of December, and in the southern Ozarks, continues into April. The further north you go, the later the blooming period. Guess is was Yankees that name it vernal witch hazel.
The natural range of Ozark witch hazel is restricted to far southwestern to southcentral and southeastern counties in Missouri, and most counties in the Arkansas Ozarks and Ouachitas, extending to a few scattered populations in eastern Oklahoma and East Texas.
Common witch hazel has a widespread range from northern Maine to southcentral Florida, west to eastern Texas, north to Minnesota and Wisconsin. And yes, this is the same witch hazel for which you will find preparations in health food stores and pharmacies, often as a water distillate of the twigs and branches, mostly produced in Connecticut, and used as a topical astringent. I use it to treat poison ivy (an off-label use).
The yellow-flowered, narrow, strap-like petals of common witch hazel, over an inch long, are twice the size the flowers of Ozark witch hazel. The base of Ozark witch hazel flowers is always blushed with orange to red, and in some instances, bright red throughout. Usually occurring in gravel scree above the normal waterflow in a creek bed, every shrub in a single population may have a wide variance of flower color.
Common witch hazel has virtually no fragrance, while Ozark witch hazel flowers have a heavenly spicy scent described as vanilla- to cinnamon- to clove-like. If you don’t get out to catch the first ticks of the season, you can see it blooming now at the trails at Crystal Bridges Museum.