Fothergilla

Last updated

Fothergilla
Fothergilla gardenii.jpg
Fothergilla gardenii
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Hamamelidaceae
Subfamily: Hamamelidoideae
Tribe: Fothergilleae
Genus: Fothergilla
Murr.
Species
  • Fothergilla gardenii
  • Fothergilla malloryi
  • Fothergilla major
  • Fothergilla milleri
  • Fothergilla parvifolia

Fothergilla (witch alder) is a genus of two to four species of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, native to woodland and swamps of the southeastern United States.

Contents

They are low-growing deciduous shrubs growing to 1–3 m (3–10 ft) tall with downy twigs. The brush-like flowers are produced before the leaves in spring on terminal spikes; they do not have any petals, but a conspicuous cluster of white stamens 2–3 cm long. The leaves are alternate, broad ovoid, 4–10 cm long and 3–8 cm broad, with a coarsely toothed margin; they are noted for their brilliant orange or red fall colors. [1]

Species

Flowers of F. major Fothergilla major (Witch alder).JPG
Flowers of F. major

Etymology

The genus was named in honor of the English physician and plant collector Dr. John Fothergill (1712-1780) of Stratford, Essex, who was known for introducing American plants to Britain. [5]

Cultivation and uses

Fothergillas are grown as ornamental plants for their spring flowers and fall foliage color. They are slow-growing, rarely exceeding 1–2 m tall in cultivation. The hybrid cultivar Fothergilla × intermedia 'Mount Airy' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witch-hazel</span> Genus of plants

Witch-hazels or witch hazels (Hamamelis) are a genus of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, with three species in North America, and one each in Japan (H. japonica) and China (H. mollis). The North American species are occasionally called winterbloom.

<i>Bergenia</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae

Bergenia is a genus of ten species of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae, native to central Asia, from Afghanistan to China and the Himalayan region.

<i>Impatiens walleriana</i> Species of flowering plant

Impatiens walleriana, also known as busy Lizzie, balsam, sultana, or simply impatiens, is a species of the genus Impatiens, native to eastern Africa from Kenya to Mozambique. The Latin specific epithet walleriana honours a British missionary, Horace Waller (1833–1896).

<i>Eucryphia</i> Genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Cunoniaceae

Eucryphia is a small genus of trees and large shrubs native to the south temperate regions of South America and coastal eastern Australia, mainly Tasmania. Sometimes placed in a family of their own, the Eucryphiaceae, more recent classifications place them in the Cunoniaceae. There are seven species, two in South America and five in Australia, and several named hybrids.

<i>Lobularia maritima</i> Species of flowering plant

Lobularia maritima is a species of low-growing flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. Its common name is sweet alyssum or sweet alison, also commonly referred to as just alyssum.

<i>Parrotia persica</i> Species of deciduous tree in the family Hamamelidaceae

Parrotia persica, the Persian ironwood, is a deciduous tree in the family Hamamelidaceae, closely related to the witch-hazel genus Hamamelis. It is native to Iran's Caspian region and Iranian Azerbaijan. It is endemic in the Alborz mountains, where it is found mainly in Golestan National Park.

<i>Lavandula angustifolia</i> Species of plant

Lavandula angustifolia, formerly L. officinalis, is a flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean. Its common names include lavender, true lavender and English lavender ; also garden lavender, common lavender and narrow-leaved lavender.

<i>Primula elatior</i> Species of flowering plant

Primula elatior, the oxlip, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to nutrient-poor and calcium-rich damp woods and meadows throughout Europe, with northern borders in Denmark and southern parts of Sweden, eastwards to the Altai Mountains and on the Kola Peninsula in Russia, and westwards in the British Isles.

<i>Corylopsis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Corylopsis is a genus of nearly 30 species of shrubs in the witch hazel family, Hamamelidaceae, native to eastern Asia with the majority of species endemic to China but with some also in Japan, Korea, and the Himalayas. This genus is also known from the extinct species Corylopsis reedae described from Eocene leaf fossils found in Washington State, USA.

<i>Clethra alnifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Clethra alnifolia, the coastal sweetpepperbush or summer sweet, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Clethra of the family Clethraceae, native to eastern North America from southern Nova Scotia and Maine south to northern Florida, and west to eastern Texas. It is a deciduous shrub which grows in wetlands, bogs and woodland streams.

<i>Polygonatum multiflorum</i> Species of flowering plant

Polygonatum multiflorum, the Solomon's seal, David's harp, ladder-to-heaven or Eurasian Solomon's seal, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Europe and temperate Asia. In Britain it is one of three native species of the genus, the others being P. odoratum and P. verticillatum.

<i>Hamamelis vernalis</i> Species of tree

Hamamelis vernalis, the Ozark witchhazel is a species of flowering plant in the witch-hazel family Hamamelidaceae, native to the Ozark Plateau in central North America, in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. It is a large deciduous shrub growing to 4 m (13 ft) tall.

<i>Hamamelis mollis</i> Species of tree

Hamamelis mollis, also known as Chinese witch hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the witch hazel family Hamamelidaceae, native to central and eastern China, in Anhui, Guangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Zhejiang.

<i>Hamamelis <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> intermedia</i> Hybrid flowering plant in the family Hamamelidaceae

Hamamelis×intermedia, the hybrid witch hazel, is a flowering plant in the family Hamamelidaceae. It is a hybrid of garden origin between H. japonica and H. mollis. Its Latin name refers to its intermediate appearance between those two species.

<i>Geranium dalmaticum</i> Species of flowering plant

Geranium dalmaticum, commonly called Dalmatian cranesbill, is a species of hardy flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the genus Geranium of the family Geraniaceae. It is native to Dalmatia on the west coast of Croatia. Growing to only 10 cm (3.9 in) tall by up to 50 cm (20 in) broad, it is cultivated as a garden subject in temperate regions for its low mound of aromatic leaves and soft mauve colored flowers. The palmately lobed glossy green leaves are tinted red in the Autumn. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

<i>Fothergilla gardenii</i> Species of flowering plant

Fothergilla gardenii, also known by the common names witch alder, dwarf fothergilla, American wych hazel, and dwarf witchalder is a deciduous shrub in the Hamamelidaceae family. It is one of two species in the genus Fothergilla.

<i>Fothergilla major</i> Species of flowering plant

Fothergilla major, the large witch alder or mountain witch alder, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Fothergilla, family Hamamelidaceae, that is native to woodland and swamps in the Allegheny Mountains and southern Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 2.5 m with fragrant white bottlebrush flowers appearing along with, or before, the glossy leaves. The leaves often turn brilliant shades of red and orange in autumn.

<i>Corylopsis pauciflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Corylopsis pauciflora, the buttercup witch hazel or winter hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Hamamelidaceae, native to Taiwan and Japan. It is a deciduous, spreading shrub growing to 1.5 m tall by 2.5 m wide. It produces masses of pale yellow flowers in pendent racemes in early spring, followed by leaves opening bronze and turning to rich green. It is cultivated in gardens and parks in temperate regions.

<i>Yucca flaccida</i> Species of flowering plant

Yucca flaccida, commonly called Adam's needle or weak-leaf yucca, is a species of flowering plant in the asparagus family (Asparagaceae). It is native to south-central and southeastern North America, from the lower Great Plains eastward to the Atlantic seaboard in Virginia, south through Florida and the Gulf states. Its natural habitat is in sandy open woodlands and fields. It is not considered to be threatened by the IUCN.

<i>Corylopsis sinensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Corylopsis sinensis, the Chinese winter hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the witch-hazel family Hamamelidaceae, native to western China. Growing to 4 m (13 ft) tall and broad, it is a substantial deciduous shrub. With ovate leaves, it produces delicately fragrant, drooping racemes of pale yellow flowers with orange anthers in spring.

References

  1. RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN   978-1405332965.
  2. Meghan G. Radtke; Kathleen B. Pigg; Wesley C. Wehr (2005), "Fossil Corylopsis and Fothergilla Leaves (Hamamelidaceae) from the Lower Eocene Flora of Republic, Washington, U.S.A., and Their Evolutionary and Biogeographic Significance", International Journal of Plant Sciences, 166 (2): 347, doi:10.1086/427483, S2CID   20215269
  3. Jianhua Li and Peter Del Tredici (2008), "The Chinese Parrotia: A Sibling Species of the Persian Parrotia" (PDF), Arnoldia, 66 (1): 5, ISSN   0004-2633
  4. 1 2 Haynes, Jake E.; Phillips, Whitney D.; Krings, Alexander; Lynch, Nathan P.; Ranney, Thomas G. (2020). "Revision of Fothergilla (Hamamelidaceae), including resurrection of F. parvifolia and a new species, F. milleri". PhytoKeys (144): 57–80. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.144.49589 . PMC   7093572 . PMID   32231461.
  5. Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521866453 (hardback), ISBN   9780521685535 (paperback). pp 169
  6. "Fothergilla × intermedia 'Mount Airy'". www.rhs.org. Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 5 July 2020.