By late October, most of Acadia’s wildflowers have long since disappeared. Browning autumn leaves carpet the forest floor as the days grow shorter and the landscape settles into its winter quiet. But tucked among the trees, one remarkable native shrub has just begun its annual display. American witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) unfurls crinkly, ribbon-like yellow petals as temperatures fall, bursting like sparklers against the muting landscape.

“It’s wonderful when you start to see the season wind down that there’s still something waiting to happen,” said Geneva Langley, supervisory gardener at the Wild Gardens of Acadia. “It’s the last native plant to start blooming, beginning in late September and lasting through early November.”

Witch hazel blooms near Sieur de Monts in Acadia National Park. (Ashley L. Conti/Friends of Acadia)

While most flowers cannot withstand freezing nights, witch hazel thrives in the autumn chill, offering pollinators—including bees, gnats, and moths—one last late-season meal.

Witch hazel is also one of the few plants that blooms while simultaneously releasing seeds from the previous year’s flowers. The seeds develop inside fuzzy capsules that build tension as they dry and shrink. Eventually, the capsules split open, launching seeds with such force that they can travel up to 30 feet in the blink of an eye.

“If you have a witch hazel near your house, you can actually hear the seeds popping out and banging into things outside, which is kind of fun,” Langley said.

Witch hazel can be found in damp, shady woodlands throughout Acadia, including at Sieur de Monts and along Witch Hole Pond Loop and Duck Brook Road. “Once you start seeing them in the landscape, you can’t unsee them,” Langley said. “They jump out at you everywhere.”