Read About the Witch-Hazel Family
WITCH-HAZEL FAMILY (Hamamelidaceae)
Witch-hazel
Hamamelis virginiana
Flowers--Yellow, fringy, clustered in the axils of branches. Calyx
4-parted; 4 very narrow curving petals about 3/4 in. long; 4 short stamens,
also 4 that are scale-like; 2 styles. Stem: A tall, crooked shrub.
Leaves: Broadly oval, thick, wavy-toothed, mostly fallen at flowering
time. Fruit: Woody capsules maturing the next season and remaining
with flowers of the succeeding year (Hama = together with; mela
= fruit).
The literature of Europe is filled with allusions to the witch-hazel,
which, however, is quite distinct from our shrub. Swift wrote:
"They tell us something strange and odd
About a certain magic rod
That, bending down its top divines
Where the soil has hidden mines;
Where there are none, it stands erect
Scorning to show the least respect."
A good story is told on Linnaeus in Baring-Gould's "Curious Myths of the
Middle Ages": "When the great botanist was on one of his voyages, hearing
his secretary highly extol the virtues of his divining-wand, he was willing
to convince him of its insufficiency, and for that purpose concealed a purse
of one hundred ducats under a ranunculus, which grew by itself in a meadow,
and bid the secretary find it if he could. The wand discovered nothing, and
Linnaeus's mark was soon trampled down by the company present, so that when
he went to finish the experiment by fetching the gold himself, he was
utterly at a loss where to find it. The man with the wand assisted him, and
informed him that it could not lie in the way they were going, but quite the
contrary; so they pursued the direction of the wand, and actually dug out
the gold. Linnaeus said that another such experiment would be sufficient to
make a proselyte of him."
Many a well has been dug even in this land of liberty where our
witch-hazel indicated; but here its kindly magic is directed chiefly through
the soothing extract distilled from its juices. Its yellow, thread-like
blossoms are the latest to appear in the autumn woods.
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