This fall- to winter-flowering shrub is widespread in eastern North America, but generally uncommon to rare on more fertile base-rich soils. Hamamelis is remarkably absent from most of the central Mississippi Valley, including the western Shawnee Hills, Cretaceous gravel hills and Coastal Plain in s. Ill., w. Ky. and w. Tenn. (K). It is most common in submesic to subxeric woods on acid soils, especially where there have been periods with dense deer or livestock. Although browsed to a moderate extent, the species can resprout rapidly during periods of reduced browsing, especially in burned areas or canopy gaps (Collins & Carson 2003, Townsend & Meyer 2002). More palatable shrubby species in similar habitats, such as Amelanchier arborea, Cornus florida and Viburnum acerifolium, tend to be infrequent or rare where Hamamelis virginiana is common (see also data at NatureServe and VegBank websites). The late flowering of this species is unique among woody plants native to eastern North America, usually in Oct-Nov but recorded from Sep to Jan. Petals and anthers fall off during this perod, leaving fresh-looking stigmas that are not fully fertilized until spring, when the percentage of fruit set is generally low (Anderson & Hill 2002). It is remarkable that Rafinesque (1836, 3:16) described H. estivalis: a "small shrub 3 or 5 feet high growing in West Kentucky and probably further west also, near streams, but blossoming in July when in full leaf; these leaves are thin and not leathery [as in virginiana]... Discovered in 1818 and 1823." These notes suggest some similarity to H. vernalis Sarg., a species of Ozarkian streams that flowers in spring (St). However, no further evidence has appeared for a distinct taxon of this type in Ky. [The East Asian H. mollis Oliv. and H. japonica Sieb. & Zucc., plus showy hybrids with long yellow petals, are cultivated but not reported to escape in North America (K).]