HAMAMELIS WITCH-HAZEL. 



145 



valvate or involute in the bud, inserted upon the calyx ; sometimes want- 

 ing. Stamens twice as many as the petals, the alternate ones sterile ; some- 

 times numerous. Ovary 2-celled, each cell 1-ovuled. Fruit a 2-celled, 2- 

 beaked, woody pod, each cell containing a single bony seed. 



The fertile flowers of Liquidambar consist of numerous coherent 2- 

 celled, many-ovuled ovaries. 



HAMAMELIS. — Witch-Hazel. 



Hamamelis Virginica Linne. — Witch-Hazel. 



Description. — Calyx 4-parted, with 2 or 3 bractlets at the base. Co- 

 rolla : petals 4, long and narrow, strap-shaped, spirally involute in the 

 bud, and considerably contorted when expanded, yellow. Stamens 8, the 



Fig. 127.— Hamamelis Virginica. 



four alternate ones imperfect and scale-like. Ovary of 2 pistils united at 

 the base ; styles short. Pod opening loculicidally from the top, the outer 

 coat separating from the inner, which encloses the single large, bony seed 

 in each cell, but soon bursts elastically into two pieces. 



A large shrub, 8 to 12 feet high, with nexuous branches. Leaves al- 

 ternate, on short petioles, obovate or oval, repandly sinuate-crenate, un- 

 equal or obliquely sub-cordate at the base, scabrous with minute elevated 

 spots beneath. The flowers are in axillary clusters, appearing from Sep- 

 tember until late in the fall, the fruit maturing the next year. 



Habitat. — In moist woods from Canada to Florida and westward ; very 

 common. 



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