Virginia Tech Dendrology

buttercup winterhazel Hamamelidaceae Corylopsis pauciflora Sieb. & Zucc. Listen to the Latin symbol: --
Leaf: Alternate, simple, broadly ovate, cordate base, 2 to 3 inches long, bristly serrated, sunken veins give the leaf a wrinkled appearance, dark green to blue-green above, paler beneath.
Flower: Attractive, pastel yellow, 1/2 inch long, in hanging clusters (1 to 2 inches long) of 3 to 5 flowers, appear before the leaves in early spring.
Fruit: Small, dry, 2-valved capsule.
Twig: Slender, glabrous, reddish brown, speckled in lighter lenticels; buds large, ovate, pointed.
Bark: Light gray-brown, smooth, becoming a bit scaly with age.
Form: A many branched, widely spreading, small shrub up to 6 feet in height.
 Looks like: fragrant winterhazel - Chinese winterhazel - dwarf fothergilla
leaf flower fruit twig bark form1 map
Additional Range Information: Corylopsis pauciflora is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. See the full-size PDF map.

All material © 2019 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information