Witch-hazel

Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginica), a North American shrub of the natural order Hamamelis- dacææ. This order contains only a very small number of species, much diffused over the world, but none of them European; shrubs or small trees, with alternate, stipulate, feather-veined leaves, and small axillary unisexual flowers. The witch-hazel is a shrub or small tree 10 or 12 feet high. The leaves are 4 inches long and 2 or 3 broad; the flowers clustered, yellow and showy, with long linear petals appearing in the fall of the year, the fruit ripening in spring. The seeds contain a quantity of oil, and are wholesome and edible, while the leaves and bark are astringent, and the tincture is much used for piles, varicose veins, &c. The name is due to the supposed virtues of a forked twig as a divining-rod.