Plant Of The Week: Mountain Witch-Alder
Kai Goldstein | April 30, 2025
Mountain Witch-Alder || Fothergilla major
Boasting flowers like pom-poms and leaves like witch hazel, this member of the witch hazel family has perhaps caught your eye along sidewalks on campus. Mountain Witch-Alder is a native species to the Southern Appalachians, specifically the uplands of mountainous forests and rocky banks of ravine streams. If you’re in an area with tulip trees, silverbells and cucumber tree magnolias, you’re likely to spot Mountain Witch-Alder hanging out. Bees and butterflies alike celebrate this plant when it blooms in the spring, and its fall colors are worth celebrating. Its presence in the wild usually indicates a rocky and slightly acidic soil. It may be humble, but it is important, and unknown virtues could be bundled up in this plant if we take the time to observe.
