Fothergilla gardenii, also known by the common names witch alder,[1] dwarf fothergilla,[2] American wych hazel,[3] and dwarf witchalder[citation needed] is a deciduous shrub in the Hamamelidaceae family.

[1][2] Native to the southeastern USA,[1][2] from North Carolina to Alabama.

[2] The cultivar 'Blue Mist' is grown for its glaucous blue-green foliage.

[1][2] Fothergilla is named for Dr. John Fothergill (1712-1780) of Stratford, Essex, a physician and introducer of American plants.

[3] Gardenii is named for Dr. Alexander Garden (1730-1791), an Anglo-American botanist and correspondent with Carl Linnaeus.