12 



AMEEICAN MEDICINAL LEAVES AND HEKBS. 



WITCH-HAZEL. 



Hamamelis virginiana L. 



Phannacnpoeml name. — Hamamolidis folia. 



Other common names. — Snapping hazel, winterbloom, wych-hazel, striped alder, 

 spotted alder, tobacco wood. 



Habitat and range. — The home of this native shrub is in low damp woods from New 

 Bruns\\'ick to Minnesota and south to Florida and Texas. 



Description. — This shrub, while it may grow to 25 feet in height, is more frequently 

 found reaching a height of only 8 to 15 feet, its crooked stem and long forking branches 



covered with smoothish brown bark 

 sometimes with an addition of lichens. 

 A peculiar feature about %\-itch-hazel is its 

 flowering in very late fall or even early 

 winter, when its branches are destitute 

 of leaves, the seed forming but not ripen- 

 ing until the following season. 



The leaves are rather large, 3 to 5 

 inches long, thick, and borne on short 

 stalks; they are broadly oval or heart- 

 shaped oval, sometimes pointed and 

 sometimes blunt at the apex, with un- 

 even sides at the base, and wavy margins. 

 The older leaves are smooth, but when 

 young they are covered with downy hairs. 

 The upper surface of the leaves is a light- 

 green or bro\vnish-green color, while the 

 lower surface is pale green and somewhat 

 shining, with prominent veins. The 

 threadlike bright-yellow flowers, which 

 appear very late in autumn, are rather 

 odd looking and consist of a 4-parted 

 corolla with four long, narrow, strap- 

 shaped petals, which are twisted in vari- 

 ous ways when in full flower. The seed capsule does not mature until the follo\\-ing sea- 

 eon, when the beaked and densely hairy seed case bursts open elasticall y , scattering with 

 great force and to a considerable distance the large, shining-black, hard seeds. (Fig. 

 4.) This interesting shrub is a member of the witch-hazel family (Hamamelidacete). 

 Collection, prices, and t/sfs.— Witch-hazel leaves are official in the United States 

 Pharmacopoeia. They should be collected in autumn and c'arefully dried. Formeriy 

 the leaves alone were recognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia, but now the 

 bark and twigs are also official. The leaves have a faint odor and an astringent, some- 

 what l)itt('r, and aromatic taste. They bring about 2 to 3 cents a pound. 



The soothing projjerlies of witch-liazel were known among the Indians, and it is still 

 employed for the relief of inflammatory conditions. 

 219 



Fig. 4.- 



-Witch-hazel( //a ;nom(7/4i;r(/jnmn«), leaves, 

 flowers, and capsules. 



