| Spooky Name, Spooky Plant? |
| Location: Not yet installed |
| Despite Witch Hazel’s name, the
shrub/small tree has nothing to do with witches! This plant’s
common name comes from the Anglo-Saxon word wyche which, after the
Norman Invasion, shifted to witch. The word wyche means “pliant”
or “flexible” referring to Witch Hazel’s branches. Its scientific
name is Hamamelis virginiana.
The genus name, Hamamelis,
means “together with fruit” referring to the fact that Witch Hazel
bears both flowers and fruits at the same time. Another common
name for this plant is Snapping Hazel. This comes from the fact
that when the seeds are ejected from the fruits they make a snapping
sound. Witch Hazel trees can be found throughout eastern North America and the southern portion of Canada. They live in woodlands, often near streams, reaching a height of 15-20 feet. Interesting parts of the plant include its branches, flowers, fruits, and seeds. When the plant’s urnlike fruits ripen (Can you find some on the tree?) they eject two seeds as far away as the plant is tall. This boosts the chances of survival of the seedlings because they are farther from the parent plant and farther from one another, helping them to avoid competition. The fall flowering shrub is the only shrub in North America that blooms this late in the year (often in November in Ohio!). The bright yellow flowers have four thin petals about 1/2 inch in length. The flexible branches can be used for archery bows and were used as dowser’s rods. Dowsers are people who claimed to find sources of underground water by holding a forked Witch Hazel branch in both hands as they walked back and forth over the ground. The tip of the branch supposedly would dip when it was over an underground source of water. Witch Hazel provided early pioneers with medicine and cosmetics. Millions of gallons of extract from the plant’s leaves are sold yearly. The tannic acid of the extract is said to help hemorrhoids and the volatile oil is used as a beauty product to soothe the skin. -- Jody Kuhn
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