# Bigleaf Witch Hazel (Hamamelis ovalis)

> Wine-red, scarlet or rose flowers from late December into February, on a colony-forming witch hazel with the largest leaves of any, first described in 2006.

Also called Leonard's witch hazel. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bigleaf-witch-hazel/

![Bigleaf witch hazel (Hamamelis ovalis) red ribbon-like flowers along a bare winter branch](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/bigleaf-witch-hazel-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Shuvaev, CC BY-SA 4.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHamamelis_ovalis%2C_Morris_Arboretum_01.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 8 to 16 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 8
- Grows wild in: The forest understory, rich moist slopes and dry uplands
- Native range: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas
- Sun: Part
- Soil moisture: Average, Dry
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Rare, Showy flowers
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Bigleaf witch hazel is a rare witch hazel of the Gulf coastal plain, first found in 2004 on Camp Shelby in southern Mississippi and described as a new species in 2006. It has since turned up in south Alabama, the Florida panhandle, Georgia and east Texas. NatureServe ranks it imperiled worldwide, and about 20 wild sites are known. Its leaves, up to 9.5 inches long and white-woolly beneath, are the largest of any witch hazel. It flowers in the heart of winter, after our common witch hazel and before our Ozark witch hazel. Plant it at a woodland edge under tall pines, where its red flowers brighten the woods in January.

## Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a medium grower, like our other witch hazels, about a foot and a half a year. It is a colony-forming shrub up to about 16 feet, rarely 20, though regular burning keeps many wild plants a few feet tall. Shallow rhizomes send up sprouts 20 feet or more from the parent, and sprouts only 8 inches tall can flower.

Flowers open from late December into early February. Each has four narrow petals of wine red, scarlet or rose, sometimes tipped yellow, around a glossy scarlet cup. The petals grow from about a quarter inch to over half an inch in their three weeks, and the scent turns from faintly spicy to musty. The leaves turn yellow and then brown, and many hang on until March. The capsules ripen over the summer and split in fall, throwing two glossy black seeds several yards.

Its home is the Gulf coastal plain, on ravine slopes and ridges under pines and hardwoods. Georgia's one known stand grows at the edge of a bay swamp in slash pine woods.

## How to grow Bigleaf Witch Hazel

Bigleaf witch hazel grows wild under a canopy of pines and hardwoods, so give it part shade. It likes a moist, loamy soil, and in the wild it also grows on dry ridges. It spreads by shallow rhizomes into a patch, so give it room or pull the sprouts you do not want. Plant it 8 feet from a wall and set plants 8 feet apart. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. No one has tested its seed, so sow it as other witch hazels are sown. Sow fresh seed outdoors in early fall, a quarter inch deep, and mulch the bed over winter. Many seedlings wait until the second spring.

Water weekly through the first summer, and in dry spells after that. Its rhizomes run just beneath the leaf litter, so do not dig or hoe close to the plant. Where deer are common, cage young plants for their first winters.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, but no one has yet studied its pollinators or whether a lone plant sets seed. In the wild it sprouts back vigorously after fire.

## Sources

- [Leonard, S. W. 2006, A new species of witch-hazel (Hamamelis: Hamamelidaceae) apparently endemic to southern Mississippi, Sida 22(2): 849-856](https://archive.org/details/mobot31753003559959)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Hamamelis ovalis, Leonard's Witch-hazel](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.807357/Hamamelis_ovalis)
- [Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Biodiversity Portal: Bigleaf Witch-hazel, account by Linda G. Chafin, 22 May 2019](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=34923)
- [Alabama Plant Atlas: Hamamelis ovalis, Leonard's Witch Hazel, species note by A. R. Diamond](http://floraofalabama.org/Plant.aspx?id=5294)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Hamamelis (genus)](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=114541)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Hamamelis chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Hamamelis.pdf)
- [Florida Natural Areas Inventory: Element Tracking Summary, June 18, 2026](https://www.fnai.org/PDFs/tracking/element_tracking_summary_current.pdf)
- [USDA PLANTS: Hamamelis ovalis S.W. Leonard, HAOV4](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/HAOV4)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Bigleaf Witch Hazel, add ?species=bigleaf-witch-hazel with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=bigleaf-witch-hazel&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Bigleaf Witch Hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=bigleaf-witch-hazel): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=bigleaf-witch-hazel
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Bigleaf Witch Hazel is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=bigleaf-witch-hazel
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Bigleaf Witch Hazel needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=bigleaf-witch-hazel:1
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Bigleaf Witch Hazel flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.