Fothergilla Murray in Linnaeus. Common name: Witch-alder.
A genus of 4 species, shrubs (to shrubby, small trees), of temperate e. North America. Diploid taxa have only recently been generally recognized as distinct from F. gardenii (Haynes et al. 2020).
ID notes: Fothergilla major often occurs with Hamamelis virginiana, with which it is easily confused in vegetative condition; a reliable character is the base of the lowermost lateral veins (marginal in Fothergilla, included in leaf tissue in Hamamelis). Most of the cultivated material of Fothergilla, including the best known cultivar ‘Mount Airy,’ are Fothergilla ×intermedia Ranney & Fantz, a pentaploid hybrid of tetraploid F. gardenii and hexaploid F. major (Ranney et al. 2007; Darke 2008).
References: Darke (2008); Endress (1993b) In Kubitzki, Rohwer, & Bittrich (1993); Haynes et al. (2020); Meyer (1997b) In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (1997); Qi et al. (2015); Ranney et al. (2007); Weaver (1969). Show full citations.
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© Alan Cressler: Fothergilla milleri, Taylor County, Georgia 1 by Alan Cressler | Fothergilla milleri source | Original Image ⭷
© Richard & Teresa Ware | Fothergilla major CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷Feedback
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