382 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 



(Ulmus montana), and it got its popular name 

 because its foliage somewhat resembles that of the 

 hazelnut-tree (Corylus Americana). 



The English witch-hazel or wych-elm was sup- 

 posed to possess magic powers. It indicated the 

 presence of hidden springs and of ores. Even at 

 the close of the last century Cornish miners 

 were so confident of its efficacy that they scarcely 

 ever sunk a shaft but by its direction, and those 

 dexterous in the use of the divining-rod professed 

 to be able to mark, on the surface of the soil, the 

 direction and breadth of the ore-vein beneath. 

 A forked twig of the Ulmus montana was also 

 used for the detection of witches, and hence the 

 tree's popular name. 



When the first settlers transferred the old 

 English name to the New England shrub they 

 also transferred all the folk-lore and wonder-lore 

 thereunto appertaining and belonging. 



Whether the American wych-hazel has lived up 

 to the reputation thus suddenly thrust upon it we 

 do not know. Certainly it has a half-uncanny 

 look when one chances upon it, all abloom, in 

 woods where the last autumn gold is growing sere. 

 For it wears the aspect of an April blossom, yet 

 we find it in latter October or November, when 



