Hamamelis virginiana
Witch-hazel
Family Hamamelidaceae
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Use
A tea can be made from leaves, and twigs.
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Description
Growth Form: Small tree or shrub.
Leaves: Approximately 8-15cm (3-6in) long, 10-8cm (2-3in). Simple. Wide and elliptical with wavy-teeth, and broadest and waviest beyond midpoint, often with unequal base. Tip can be pointed to blunt.
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Leaves
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Flowers
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Flowers: Roughly 2.5cm (1in)– with four slender and twisted yellow petals. Come into flower in late autumn or winter.
Fruits: Egg-shaped and light brown with 4 curved points at tip. Contain 1-2 black seeds. Mature in August through September.
Buds: Hairy and without scales.
Bark: Light brown. Can be smooth to rough and scaly.
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Habitat and Range
Understory of hardwood forests on mesic soils, from Maine south to Northern Florida, and from Wisconsin west to Massachusetts.
Season
The twigs should be harvested in spring. Leaves should be harvested in the summer, and can then be dried for later use.
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Fruits
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Bark
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Fun Facts
Drying fruit capsules can eject seeds as far as 9m (30ft)!
It was thought that a forked branch of Witch-hazel could be used to divine the location of underground water.
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