Many often mistake it for forsythia in bloom.

But the graceful yellow blooms seen in dooryards and near roadsides around the Vineyard these days are in fact witch hazel — a native shrub with a flowering schedule that is opposite most other deciduous trees around New England.

Witch hazel blooms from late fall into late winter, just around the time the rest of the landscape begins its months-long cycle of bare branches and brown earth.

At this time of year witch hazel stands out for its beautiful yellow-green color, and slightly spicy fragrance.

In addition to the natural astringent medicinal uses from its extract, witch hazel was also known for the use of its forked limbs as dowsing or divining rods.

“Many a good back-country well still offers its sweet plenty as proof that a witch-hazel branch, properly held in the right hands, could show a man where to dig,” the nature writer Hal Borland said of the shrub whose Latin name is Hamamelis.

On a quiet drive around the Island, as February turns to March, witch hazel is evident in many places. There is one by Middletown Nursery in North Tisbury, another near Brookside Farm on Middle Road.

The Polly Hill Arboretum has some exotic varieties, too.

Next up: True forsythia in bloom.