Virginia Tech Dendrology

fragrant winterhazel Hamamelidaceae Corylopsis glabrescens Franch. & Sav. symbol:
Leaf: Alternate, simple, broadly ovate, cordate base, 2 to 5 inches long, bristly serrated, sunken veins give the leaf a wrinkled appearance, dark green to blue-green above, paler beneath.
Flower: Attractive, fragrant, pale yellow, 1/2 inch long, in hanging clusters 1 to 2 inches long, appear before the leaves in early spring.
Fruit: Small, dry, 2-valved capsule.
Twig: Slender, gray-brown, speckled in raised lenticels; buds large and stalked, flower buds broadly ovate, pointed, buds initally yellow-green and becoming reddish.
Bark: Light gray-brown, smooth, becoming scaly with age.
Form: A many branched, widely spreading, small shrub up to 15 feet in height and similar spread.
Looks like: buttercup winterhazel - Chinese winterhazel - dwarf fothergilla

Additional Range Information: Corylopsis glabrescens is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database
All material © 2021 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