The Witch Hazels 



come before the leaves have commenced to fall, and 

 though the flowering continues into the winter, the 

 earlier clusters are often overshadowed by dying foliage. 

 The leaves are large, broad and ovate, very like our 

 hazel, hence the shrub's common name, and this resem- 

 blance led to twigs of the plant being used for divina- 

 tion in America, as hazel twigs are used in this country, 

 therefore was the plant termed " Witch " Hazel, some- 

 times written Wych-Hazel. There seems to be no in- 

 formation to hand as to whether the Orientals have 

 detected any magical power in their representatives of 

 the group. The leaves of the American species, together 

 with the bark, possess valuable medicinal qualities, for 

 they are powerfully astringent and check haemorrhage. 

 They are, indeed, the basis for two well-known American 

 medical preparations, namely, Pond's Extract and 

 Hazeline. Witch Hazel plasters, too, are considered 

 valuable for reducing varicose veins. 



Of the two gayer Oriental species, the Chinese Witch 

 Hazel can always be known because the under side of 

 its large ovate leaves is covered with a dense white 

 felting of hairs. Hence the specific name " mollis" 

 soft. It was first sent home in 1879, by Mr. Maries, 

 one of Messrs. Veitch's plant collectors, who secured two 

 or three plants in the province of Kiukiang, really at 

 the risk of his life, for at that time the inhabitants of 

 those regions were distinctly unfriendly to European 



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