Witch Hazel

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. It costs 200 sun. When planted, it transforms a zombie in its lane or an adjacent lane into a Puff-shroom, which makes it an environment modifier. Once its ability is activated, it will be vulnerable. In other words, it takes 18 seconds for it to attack again. It always prioritizes Wizard Zombies.

Origins
Witch Hazel is based on the plant witch-hazel. Its name is a portmanteau of "witch-hazel", the real-life plant it is based on, and "witch", hence its appearance.

Almanac entry
Sun cost: 200

DAMAGE: Normal

RANGE: Multi-Hit

RECHARGE: Fast

Witch Hazel uses magical sorcery to transform zombies into Puff-shrooms.

Special: targets Wizard Zombies first

Witch Hazel paused, unsure how to proceed. Then all at once, she knew: Use magic, like, ALL THE TIME!

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

Strategies
Witch Hazel is a very interesting plant. Its 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 it 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 it will still instantly defeat them.

In Far Future, Witch Hazel can be useful at combating the Robo-Cone Zombie, Disco-tron 3000 or Mecha-Football Zombie as it can instantly transform them regardless of their health. Unlike Electric Blueberry, it 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 it 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 Endless Zones, Witch Hazel is generally a poor pick due to its ineffectiveness against crowds. While it can help early on in the level to stop early zombies, it becomes fairly ineffective past that point.

Trivia

 * If it transforms a zombie into a Puff-shroom while the Puff-shroom is boosted, the Puff-shroom will have its Plant Food effect go off every time a zombie is transformed into a Puff-shroom.
 * This also happens with Toadstool.
 * The fact that its Plant Food effect features it turning zombies into Toadstools may be a reference to how witches turn characters into frogs and toads in children's stories.
 * It 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, 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 its "hat."
 * This means that it is the second eyeless plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2, the first being Chomper.
 * Coincidentally, they are both premium plants.
 * Its Almanac entry reuses stats from Bloomerang's entry, even though they are not correct.
 * It 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.
 * It 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.
 * It is the second plant to change zombies to other plants, the first being Spore-shroom.
 * It is the most expensive money premium plant in the game, costing $7.99 USD.
 * According to the developers in a Live from PopCap episode, it 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.
 * It is the slowest non-manual attack in the game, taking 18 seconds for it to attack.
 * Although it can turn zombies into Toadstools, which produce sun, it can still be used in Last Stand and Special Delivery levels. This was likely an oversight and not intended.
 * Toadstools created by Witch Hazel in Special Delivery levels will not produce any sun, similar to Moonflower in Modern Day - Day 34.