190 TREE ANCESTORS 



in the early Eocene of Belgium, France and Montana. A petrified 

 wood that is closely related to if it is not true wdtch- hazel wood 

 (Hamamelidoxylon) has been described from the mid-Cretaceous 

 of France and flowers (Hamamelidanthium) are preserved in the 

 Baltic amber (Lower Oligocene). Finally unmistakable witch 

 hazel leaves occur in the Phocene of the Auvergne (Cantal) so that 

 we know that the witch hazel was present in Europe in pre-glacial 

 times although it became entirely extinct on that continent during 

 the period of glaciation. 



