Hamamelis mollis the Witch Hazel is coming into flower in the garden now. It has a slight scent like Hyacinth and the strange but lovely flowers, as with most winter flowers, last for weeks. This is a form called 'Palida' I think.
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Every time I see one of these I remind myself to get one. Thanks for another reminder.
JackPedigo
Level 9
Jan 21, 2019
2
Can you tell us a little bit about the seasonal climate at your location right now? Does the UK have climate zones similar to or the same as the US?
beenthere
Level 7
Jan 21, 2019
1
Yes, some people try to use the US zones for the UK but they work only roughly because being such a small island the weather makes a nonesense of climate to a degree. I am on the border of eight/seven and most of the UK is either eight or seven with some six in the northern mountains. Being on a hill I am colder than some places nearby. We are having night frosts now and thaws in the day.
It is a very useful plant: hamamelis is and astringent and heals infections of the skin.Here is the linlk: [diynatural.com]
Spinliesel
Level 9
Jan 21, 2019
3
Do you have any experience harvesting from this plant?
@beenthere Sorry, no, but I know you use the bark, ground up.
How is it pollinated? The witch hazel here in WI blooms in the dead of January, February in the midst of snow
No bugs, no bees. Birds?
Leafhead
Level 8
Jan 21, 2019
2
I have no idea will get back to you.
I googled it and came up with this really interesting clip.
For a long time, it was a mystery how a winter-flowering plant would get pollinated. A witchhazel that happens to flower on a slightly warm spring when honeybees are making their first flights in desperate search of food might get lucky. That is not a reliable way to reproduce.
It was the renowned naturalist Bernd Heinrich who realized that there was a group of owlet moths (family Noctuidae) called winter moths that are active on cold nights. These moths have a remarkable ability to heat themselves by using energy to shiver, raising their body temperatures by as much as 50 degrees in order to fly in search of food. It is a group of these moths that pollinate witch hazels. The moths that pollinate witchhazel are several species of Eupsilia known as sallows.
It would be easy to conclude that this is a case of coevolution - both organisms having evolved to depend on one another. This is probably not the case - Heinrich observed that these moths mostly feed on bleeding sap from injured trees. So, the tree is dependent on the moth, but the moth is probably not dependent on the tree.
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