The Witch Hazel 



Florence E. White 



Yorktown, N. Y. 



This flower is indeed the 

 last of the "floral sister- 

 hood," since we find both 

 flowers and fruit on the 

 same branch in October and 

 November. Just when the 

 leaves are about to be shed 

 it breaks forth into bloom 

 making November like 

 April. To me it is one of 

 the most interesting of our 

 wild plants and I am not 

 surprised to find that so 

 many writers think so too. 

 The witch-hazel has a 

 most interesting history 

 both in name and legend. 

 In the first place it is 

 wrongly named. The early 

 settlers in America found 

 something in its foliage or 

 or habit of growth, suggestive of the English witch-hazel, to which 

 it is in nowise related, so they transferred the old English name to 

 the newly discovered American shrub ; being influenced probably 

 by the same love for the home words which prompted them to call 

 the red-breasted American thrush a robin. The English witch- 

 hazel is not a hazel but an elm {Ulmus montana) and got its name 

 because its foliage resembled somewhat that of the hazelnut tree 

 {Corylus americano). The English witch-hazel is supposed to 

 possess magic powers in detecting hidden springs and ores, also 

 for the detection of witches, hence the popular name. The pro- 

 cedure for the detection of springs is as follows. A forked twig is 

 chosen whose Y stands north and south; for the rising and setting 

 suns must have sent their rays through its prongs as it grew. The 

 leaves are removed then the twig is grasped by its two forks with 

 the Y stem thrust forward. When the stem turns down it is a sign 

 that water is below and can be reached "if you go deep enough." 

 The American witch-hazel has the scientific name of Hamamelis 



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Witch hazel 



