Scientific Name: Sycopsis sinensis
Common Name: Chinese Fighazel, Evergreen Ironwood
Family: Hamamelidaceae
Conservation Status: Least concern
Native Range: South and central China. Taiwan.

Culture/Habit: Hardy to USDA zone 7 (0֯ F). Full sun to part shade. Water to establish plants, then as desired to assist growth, drought tolerant otherwise. Broadleaf evergreen tree 20 to 30 feet tall or taller. Petal-less flowers emerge in later winter (January-February in PNW- brush-like, long-yellow anthers with red tips.

Location Within the UWBG: One young plant in 37-2E just south of the GVC on Arboretum Drive, another in 39-2W just south of the path leading to Willcox Bridge, plus a grove of twenty trees dating back to 1940 in grid 6-5E, just on the east side of Arboretum Drive in the Pacific Connections Garden.  At the Center for Urban Horticulture there are two younger plants, one in Soest Garden Bed 2 and one south of the south slope of the Soest Garden.

Much of the online literature regarding Sycopsis sinensis is in agreement in that the flowers of Chinese fighazel “will not stop traffic”. While it may be true that I cannot argue the point, what those accounts fail to convey is that these trees can be LOADED with flowers. This trait seems to vary from year to year, possibly due to environmental conditions. And, in fact, in 1983 it was recorded by staff that no Sycopsis sinensis in the Washington Park Arboretum produced any flowers at all. Luckily for us all, 2025 will not be remembered as such a year. If you visit the grove of Sycopsis at the Pacific Connections Garden along Arboretum Drive this February you will be in for a treat.

Native to Taiwan and central and southern China, Sycopsis sinensis grows in evergreen forests and can be quite long lived. Chinese fighazel was described by Daniel Oliver in 1860 and was subsequently collected and introduced to gardens by Ernest Wilson in 1901. Some of the original plants brought to Cambridge University Botanic Garden in 1905 remain today in excellent health. Though from a subtropical climate, Sycopsis sinensis is grown in gardens from central Scotland to Orlando, Florida.

While Oliver is credited with naming the genus Sycopsis (meaning “fig-like” in ancient Greek), apparently several of the species which previously had been placed within Sycopsis have now been moved to other genera and the remaining few species are rather un-fig-like foliage-wise, resembling certain evergreen Viburnum species instead. Trying to give Daniel Oliver the benefit of the doubt, I’d like to say that the just-emerging flowers of Sycopsis sinensis have some bit of resemblance to the interior of a split-open, ripe, brown turkey fig. Let the debate commence.

Sycopsis sinensis is an upright, evergreen tree and can be an effective screening plant for a smaller garden, planted singly or in a mass. There is a very narrow-leaf form in the nursery trade, and a newer collection by Dan Hinkley has a more slender-leaf profile than the typical species. Our younger trees are mainly from Dan’s introduction. The leaves of the narrow-leaf variety grow to only about 4 mm wide as opposed to the 4 cm width of the typical species. In addition, the narrow-leaf variety is reported to be less rigidly upright and may result in being more of a loose shrub. The flowers of fighazel emerge as a clustered spike from a brown protective bract. Each flower in the cluster has several red-to-yellow anthers on yellow stamens. The effect is reminiscent of a plague of small, otherworldly, arboreal nautiluses (nautili).

In the Summer 1989 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin, then curator Tim Hohn reported on the disastrous freeze beginning on February 1 of that year. He describes a bout of cold weather whence the temperature did not rise above freezing for two weeks, which included 6 nights in a row with the low beneath 20o F. Indeed the nighttime low of February 2 was 7 o F, followed by 8o F on Feb 3 and 9o F on Feb 4. The list of damaged plants from this event is extensive and categorized under headings such as “Dead”, “Dead to the ground”, “Defoliated”, “Dieback”, etc. On a positive note, Tim takes a moment within this article to celebrate the “noteworthy survivors” which came through undamaged, of which Sycopsis sinensis was included. I would recommend anyone with a cold pocket in their garden to consult the entirety of Tim’s list for planting suggestions.

To view this unusual species in the Arboretum, travel along Arboretum drive into the Pacific Connections Garden. A grove of 20 mature Sycopsis trees (accessions 1417-40 and 985-41) are located between the Australian entry garden and the bus turnaround, on the east side of the road. For those visiting the north end of the Arboretum, a single young Sycopsis sinensis can be viewed on the west side of Arboretum drive, south of the Graham Visitor Center (grid 37-2E).

Sycopsis sinensis and Parrotia persica, both brethren in the witch hazel family, have been crossed to form the hybrid XSycoparrotia semidecidua. Parrotia persica also blooms in the mid-winter and two mature specimens can be visited just to the north of the Sycopsis grove, growing in the middle of our bus turnaround. The resulting cross between an evergreen Sycopsis and deciduous Parrotia has been aptly given specific epithet semidecidua. One specimen of XSycoparrotia semidecidua is located just at the northwest corner of the Sycopsis grove, just along the edge of Arboretum drive, and another young specimen is located in 37-2E.