Witch Hazel


 * For the version in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, see Witch Hazel (PvZH).

Witch Hazel is a premium plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2, tied to the 2016 Lawn of Doom event introduced in the 5.4 update. When planted, she transforms a zombie in her lane or an adjacent lane into a Puff-shroom, or a Fume-shroom once she is level 7. Once her ability is activated, she will be vulnerable. In other words, it takes 18 seconds for her to attack again. She always prioritizes Wizard Zombies.

Origins
Witch Hazel is based on the plant witch-hazel. Her name is a portmanteau of "witch-hazel," the real-life plant she is based on, and "witch," hence her appearance. She shares the same name as the Looney Tunes character, Witch Hazel.

Almanac entry
Note: In the Chinese version, Witch Hazel can only transform zombies who are at a level lower than or equal with her.

Plant Food effect
When fed Plant Food, Witch Hazel will transform the closest zombie in her range into a Toadstool. If there are any Wizard Zombies in her range, then she will target them instead.

In the Chinese version, she transforms the zombie into a Fume-shroom instead.

Costumed
When fed by Plant Food with her costume, Witch Hazel will still transform the closest zombie into a Fume-shroom, but the Fume-shroom will also activate its Plant Food effect.

Strategies
Witch Hazel is a very interesting plant. Her ability to transform zombies into Puff-shrooms, seems insignificant at first, but can have some very tactful uses. These newly created Puff-shrooms can be used to stall zombies for a brief second, and they can also function as targets for Wizard Zombies and Octo Zombies. Keep in mind that Witch Hazel does not instantly transform Gargantuars into Puff-shrooms; it takes them three hits in order to defeat a Gargantuar, and even then, a Puff-shroom will not spawn from them.

Witch Hazel often struggles against hordes of zombies, so area-of-effect plants like Melon-pult and Phat Beet should be used to help her out. Additionally, Witch Hazel has a slow recharge, but Imitater can shore up this issue.

Keep in mind that Witch Hazel will not transform zombies above water in Pirate Seas and Big Wave Beach, but she will still instantly defeat them.

In Ancient Egypt, Far Future and Modern Day, Witch Hazel can be useful at combating the Camel Zombies, Pharaoh Zombie, Robo-Cone Zombie, Disco-tron 3000, Mecha-Football Zombie or Newspaper Zombie as she can instantly transform them regardless of their health and ignores the armor that they may have. Unlike Electric Blueberry, she will target them if they manage to get in front.

In Dark Ages, Witch Hazel can be an effective counter to the Wizard Zombie, as she prefers to target them more often than other zombies. Keep in mind though that if there are numerous Wizard Zombies coming out, Witch Hazel may not be enough to stop all of them.

In Lost City, Witch Hazel is a good choice to use against Imp Porter as they can transform him without letting him release his backpack. This also applies to Bug Zombie. In addition, her new creation of Puff-shrooms are a good distraction for Excavator Zombie and Turquoise Skull Zombie. Witch Hazel can easily take down a Relic Hunter Zombie or Lost Pilot Zombie as these zombies tend to land closer to your house.

In Neon Mixtape Tour, Witch Hazel is useful against Punk Zombies and MC Zom-Bs that appear with some other zombies as they can be easily distracted, giving your offensive plants an advantage to destroy them. Moreover, the Puff-shrooms serve as a great front-line sacrificing targets for Hair Metal Gargantuars and temporarily protect your other plants.

In Endless Zones, Witch Hazel is generally a poor pick due to her ineffectiveness against crowds. While she can help early on in the level to stop early zombies, she becomes fairly ineffective past that point unless she is supported by a powerful plant like Coconut Cannon and Winter Melon.

Much like Electric Blueberry and Caulipower, this plant truly shines in Last Stand levels where recharge is often disregarded, and the player can typically put 5 to 10 Witch Hazels on the yard before unleashing the zombie horde. Once again, the Puff-shrooms can briefly stun zombies while the Witch Hazels recharge.

Toadstools created by Witch Hazel in Last Stand levels will produce sun, allowing the player to plant more plants. Be careful, however, as spawned Toadstools may not survive before creating any sun because they tend to spawn in crowds.

It is not recommended to use Witch Hazel in levels where the number of plants on board is limited, because too many Puff-shrooms (or Fume-shrooms) might cause defeat if not removed quickly. For this same reason, it isn't recommended to use Witch Hazel on levels where plant loss is limited, as spawned Puff-shrooms (or Fume-shrooms) do count against you if you happen to lose one.

Avoid using Witch Hazel against Explorer Zombie as he can easily destroy the Puff-shrooms without having to stop moving.

Trivia

 * If she transforms a zombie into a Puff-shroom while the Puff-shroom is boosted, the Puff-shroom will have his Plant Food effect go off every time a zombie is transformed into a Puff-shroom.
 * This also happens with Toadstool and sometimes level 4 Fume-shrooms in the Chinese version.
 * The fact that her Plant Food effect features her turning zombies into Toadstools may be a reference to how witches turn characters into frogs and toads in children's stories.
 * She is the only plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2 to be able to target a specific kind of zombie, and one of three overall.
 * The other plants are Carrot Missile (from Plants vs. Zombies Online), which prioritizes Archer Zombie, Cactus and Cattail (from Plants vs. Zombies) which prioritizes Balloon Zombies (only when flying).
 * In the Zen Garden, it is shown that Witch Hazel has no eyes, even under her "hat."
 * This means that she is the second eyeless plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2, the first being Chomper.
 * Coincidentally, they are both premium plants.
 * However, when she is charmed by the Boombox Zombie's Power Ballad, she appears to have heart-like eyes.
 * Before the 5.7.1 update Witch Hazel's Almanac entry reused stats from Bloomerang's entry, even though they are not correct.
 * Buying this plant is a way of accessing Puff-shroom and Toadstool without the use of Special Delivery or Locked and Loaded levels, if the player hasn't obtained them yet.
 * Unlike other special-edition plants, there is a chance to get bonus seed packets for Witch Hazel.
 * She is the second premium plant that is capable of spawning another premium plant, which is Toadstool. The first is Escape Root, which has a chance of spawning Grapeshot.
 * She is the third plant tied to the Lawn of Doom event. The first plant being Ghost Pepper, and the second plant being Jack O' Lantern.
 * She is the second plant to change zombies to other plants, the first being Spore-shroom.
 * According to the developers in a Live from PopCap episode, she is the arch-nemesis of the Wizard Zombie. This is most likely because both are sorcerers.
 * This may explain why Witch Hazel prefers to target Wizard Zombie.
 * She is the slowest non-manual attack in the game, taking 18 seconds for her to attack.
 * Although she can turn zombies into Toadstools, which produce sun, she can still be used in Last Stand and Special Delivery levels. This was likely an oversight and not intended.

Specific to Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version)

 * Witch Hazel is the only plant whose Plant Food effect doesn't match with the International version, with and without costume.
 * She reuses Stallia's sounds.