WITCH HAZEL (Hamamelis Virginiana, Linn.). Shrub to 

 25 feet. Short trunk and loose, spreading head of small, zig- 

 zag branches. Bark brown, scaly, smooth. Wood close- 

 grained, heavy, hard, brownish -red. Leaves oval or obovate, 

 unsymmetrical, wavy-margined, strongly veined, sometimes 

 coarsely toothed, 4 to 6 inches long, rusty-hairy at first. 

 Flowers in late autumn, small, clustered, faintly fragrant, with 

 4 narrow, long, yellow petals that persist all winter. Fruit, 

 ripe in autumn, a woody, 2-celled capsule size of a large pea 

 opening explosively to discharge 2 black seeds. Dist.: Nova 

 Scotia to Nebraska; south to Florida and Texas. Bark, 

 twigs, and leaves macerated to make a medicinal extract. 



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