120 Witch-Hazel (Hamamelidece) 



three quarters of an inch long, very narrow (strap- 

 like) inserted on the calyx. Sepals, four, downy. 

 Stamens, eight, very short, four of them perfect, with 

 anthers, the others imperfect and scale-like. Styles, 

 two, short. Pistils, two, united below, so forming a 

 seed-case which is two-beaked, two-celled, two- to 

 several-seeded, and partly adherent to the calyx. 

 The brown scale-like remains of the flower envelopes 

 remain in the axils of the leaves of the next year. 

 October, November. 



Leaves, simple, alternate, edge strongly wavy, at times 

 with some of the waves sharpened, three to five 

 inches long, rounded, oval, or inversely egg-shape. 

 Base, slightly heart-shaped and unequal. Apex, 

 sometimes round and sometimes with a slight blunted 

 point, sometimes roughened with small brown hairs 

 along the back of the veins, shiny underneath, dark 

 green above, veins straight. 



Fruit, two-celled, with two large, hard seeds (a favorite 

 food of the partridges), ripening in the summer from 

 the previous autumn's flowers. A nut-like capsule. 

 September. 



Found, in damp woods, very widely distributed. 



A shrub six to twelve feet high, with long straggling 

 stems and branches, well worthy of cultivation because of 

 its uniqueness throughout. 



Riding one day in a slow stage across the hills of 

 Central New York, a fellow-passenger a lady gave me 

 this bit of information : "Once when my grandfather was 

 seriously sick, there came to visit him an Oneida Indian, 

 who prescribed for him to his great relief. Afterward he 



