English: Black Witch-hazel.
Synonym: Trichocladus peltatus; Trichocladus vittatus.
Name: Trichocladus in Greek and means 'hairy-branched', crinitus in Latin and means 'with a long tuft of fine hairs.'
Region: South Africa.
Habitat: understory of evergreen forests; grows well in cool temperate weather.

BotanyShrubs, subshrub, small tree, to 4 m tall.
Stem: branches covered in dense, velvet-like, stellate hairs; bark deep brown to pale grey and smooth; wood is white and very hard.
Leaves: covered in dense, velvet-like, stellate hairs; simple, alternate or opposite; paler beneath, with inconspicuous stipules; elliptic, with a tapering apex and slightly lobed or square base; dark, shiny green above; 2 to 10 cm long, 1 to 7 cm widel; petiole is hort, thick, peltate.
Inflorescence: dense, spherical heads.
Flowers: green to yellow or orange; 4 or 5 merous; sepals fused, forming a tube; petals are long and narrow, closely resemble Hamamelis;hermaphroditic or sexually separate; monoecious or dioecious; blooming from April to August.
Fruits: small, hairy; two-valved capsule; red to brown; appears to be 4-valved at its apex; 5 to 7 mm long; ripen between October and November.