Credits

Created by Christine Stephens, Explore Natural Communities Intern Summer 2017, NatureServe.

Sounds: Butterfly Wings, by yuval (freesound.org). Public Domain. Wind, by Mark DiAngelo (soundbible.com); Owls at Night, by Npeo (freesound.org). Licensed Under Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0.

Music: Symbiosis, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0. Lullaby for Democracy, by Doctor Turtle (freemusicarchive.org). Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.

Photo: American witch-hazel, by Gary Fleming, Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommerical 3.0.

References:
Winter Sex: The Puzzling Case of Witchhazel
How is Witch Hazel Pollinated?

Transcript

Podcast time: 3:08 minutes

It's the middle of a chilly night in mid-November. [owl hoots] The tree branches are bare and the air is crisp as winter approaches. [wind sounds] Everyone is starting to hunker down as the cold seeps deeper and deeper into the forest. [music fades in] But suddenly there's a soft flutter. [fluttering wings] A small moth flies toward a patch of brightly flowering shrubs, the only hint of color in the dormant forest. Its body is vibrating to stay warm as it enjoys a sugary meal.

Like most moths, Owlet moths (family Noctuidae) are nocturnal. Their ability to shiver and raise their body temperature up to 50 degrees, allows them to remain active even when the temperature outside dips below freezing. The bright yellow, fringy flowers of the native witch-hazel attract these hungry moths. Lucky for them, there's not much competition. They're one of the only pollinators around when fall-flowering plants like witch-hazel are blooming.

October and November are the best times to see witch-hazel's beautiful flowers after the yellow leaves have dropped. And while it's less conspicuous during other times of the year, this shrub can still be identified by its heavily-veined leaves with scalloped or wavy edges, and by its height. It's usually 10-30 feet tall, and each plant typically has multiple stems from its base.

Witch-hazel is a common sight on the trail and is exciting to see, but there's a lot of other stuff going on here, too. [first song fades out, new music fades in] The natural community you're in is called the Dry-Mesic Chestnut Oak – Northern Red Oak Forest. If we break that name down, it's a little less complicated than it sounds. Dry-Mesic just tells you that the soil is on the dry side—not too moist for long periods of time, but not bone-dry, either, like some other oak communities. This community stays pretty dry because of its steep slopes. When rain flows downhill, it spends less time in one place and so less water sinks into the soil.

The rest of the name tells you what types of trees are dominant here. In this case, it's Chestnut Oak and Northern Red Oak.

Both of these oaks grow straight and tall. The deep shade they create makes for a pleasant place to walk, even on a hot summer day! Other plants that prefer to stay out of full sun love it here, too.

You'll see some of these shade-loving plants growing low to the ground. Low-growing plants are especially important on steep slopes like these because they help to keep easily-erodible soil in place. White wood-aster is one herb you might recognize in this community. Its white flowers bloom in the late summer or early fall.

In the understory, northern spicebush is also noticeable in the fall because of its bright red berries. In early spring, even before there are leaves are out, spicebush will have beautiful flowers. At first glance, you might mistake its bright yellow flowers for native witch-hazel, but remember: It's the wrong time of year.

This community has highlights during many seasons, so be sure to stop back during a different time of year to experience even more of its beauty!

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