Tree · Hamamelidaceae
American witchhazel
Hamamelis virginiana
American witchhazel is recorded as native to 32 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,116 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
American witchhazel at a glance
- Native in
- 1,116 counties, across 32 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 20 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −28°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
American witchhazel is recorded as native to 32 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,116 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,116 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 58 counties
- Arkansas 45 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 3 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 31 counties
- Georgia 62 counties
- Illinois 23 counties
- Indiana 52 counties
- Kentucky 80 counties
- Louisiana 40 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 68 counties
- Minnesota 6 counties
- Mississippi 44 counties
- Missouri 5 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 53 counties
- North Carolina 70 counties
- Ohio 75 counties
- Oklahoma 3 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 24 counties
- Tennessee 41 counties
- Texas 12 counties
- Vermont 7 counties
- Virginia 89 counties
- West Virginia 48 counties
- Wisconsin 46 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 20 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 6.2
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 20 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Fall
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Hamamelidaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- HAVI4
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Hamamelis virginiana (PLANTS symbol HAVI4).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources