Witch-hazel
Encyclopedia
Witch-hazel is a genus
of flowering plant
s in the family Hamamelidaceae
, with three species in North America
(H. ovalis, H. virginiana
and H. vernalis
), and one each in Japan
(H. japonica) and China
(H. mollis
). The North American species are rarely called winterbloom.
shrub
s or (rarely) small tree
s growing to 3 – tall, rarely to 12 metres (39.4 ft) tall. The leaves
are alternately arranged, oval, 4 – long and 3 – broad, with a smooth or wavy margin. The horticultural name means "together with fruit"; its fruit, flowers, and next year's leaf buds all appear on the branch simultaneously, a rarity among trees. H. virginiana flowers in the fall of the year. The flower
s of the other species are produced on the leafless stems in winter. Each flower has four slender strap-shaped petals 1 – long, pale to dark yellow, orange, or red. The fruit
is a two-part capsule
1 centimetre (0.393700787401575 in) long, containing a single 5 millimetre (0.196850393700787 in) glossy black seed in each of the two parts; the capsule splits explosively
at maturity in the autumn about 8 months after flowering, ejecting the seeds with sufficient force to fly for distances of up to 10 metres (32.8 ft), thus another alternative name "Snapping Hazel".
wiche, from the Old English wice, meaning "pliant" or "bendable". "Witch hazel" was used in England as a synonym for Wych Elm, Ulmus glabra; American colonists simply extended the familiar name to the new shrub. The use of the twigs as divining rods, just as hazel
twigs were used in England, may also have, by folk etymology, influenced the "witch" part of the name.
formerly treated as Hamamelis persica, is now given a genus of its own, as Parrotia persica, as it differs in the flowers not having petals. Other closely allied genera are Parrotiopsis, Fothergilla
and Sycopsis (see under Hamamelidaceae
). Witch-hazels are not closely related to the true Corylus hazel
s, though they have a few superficially similar characteristics which may cause one to believe that they are.
s, grown for their clusters of rich yellow to orange-red flowers which begin to expand in the autumn as or slightly before the leaves fall, and continue throughout the winter.
, which flowers in earliest spring, on the bare branches, instead of hiding its fall blooms among golden autumn foliage. The plant-hunter Charles Maries
collected for Veitch Nurseries
in the Chinese district of Jiujiang
in 1879. It languished in nursery rows for years until it was noticed, propagated and put on the market in 1902.
Numerous cultivar
s have been selected for use as garden shrubs, many of them derived from the hybrid H. × intermedia Rehder (H. japonica × H. mollis). Jelena and Robert de Belder of Arboretum Kalmthout
, selecting for red cultivars, found three: the first, with bronze flowers, was named 'Jelena'; the next, with red flowers, was named 'Diane' (the name of their daughter); the last, with deep red flowers, was called 'Livia' (the name of their granddaughter).
; the extract, also referred to as witch hazel
, is used medicinally. Extracts from its bark and leaves are used in aftershave lotions and lotions for treating bruises and insect bites. Witch-hazel helps to shrink and contract blood vessels back to normal size, hence its use as the active ingredient in many hemorrhoid
medications. It is also a common treatment for postnatal
tearing of the perineum
. The seeds contain a quantity of oil and are edible. It is also used in treating acne
. Witch Hazel is also used in treating psoriasis and eczema.
e of some Lepidoptera
species including Feathered Thorn
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s in the family Hamamelidaceae
Hamamelidaceae
The Hamamelidaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales, including 27 genera and about 80-90 species, all shrubs and small trees...
, with three species in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
(H. ovalis, H. virginiana
Hamamelis virginiana
Hamamelis virginiana is a species of Witch-hazel native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, and south to central Florida to eastern Texas....
and H. vernalis
Hamamelis vernalis
Hamamelis vernalis is a species of Witch-hazel native to the Ozark Plateau in central North America, in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.It is a deciduous large shrub growing to 4 m tall, spreading by stoloniferous root sprouts...
), and one each in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(H. japonica) and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
(H. mollis
Hamamelis mollis
Hamamelis mollis is a species of witch-hazel native to central and eastern China, in Anhui, Guangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Zhejiang.It is a deciduous large shrub or small tree growing to 8 m tall...
). The North American species are rarely called winterbloom.
Growth
The witch-hazels are deciduousDeciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s or (rarely) small tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s growing to 3 – tall, rarely to 12 metres (39.4 ft) tall. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are alternately arranged, oval, 4 – long and 3 – broad, with a smooth or wavy margin. The horticultural name means "together with fruit"; its fruit, flowers, and next year's leaf buds all appear on the branch simultaneously, a rarity among trees. H. virginiana flowers in the fall of the year. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s of the other species are produced on the leafless stems in winter. Each flower has four slender strap-shaped petals 1 – long, pale to dark yellow, orange, or red. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is a two-part capsule
Capsule (fruit)
In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...
1 centimetre (0.393700787401575 in) long, containing a single 5 millimetre (0.196850393700787 in) glossy black seed in each of the two parts; the capsule splits explosively
Dehiscence (botany)
Dehiscence is the opening, at maturity, in a pre-defined way, of a plant structure, such as a fruit, anther, or sporangium, to release its contents. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part. Structures that open in this way are said to be dehiscent...
at maturity in the autumn about 8 months after flowering, ejecting the seeds with sufficient force to fly for distances of up to 10 metres (32.8 ft), thus another alternative name "Snapping Hazel".
Etymology
The name Witch in witch-hazel has its origins in Middle EnglishMiddle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
wiche, from the Old English wice, meaning "pliant" or "bendable". "Witch hazel" was used in England as a synonym for Wych Elm, Ulmus glabra; American colonists simply extended the familiar name to the new shrub. The use of the twigs as divining rods, just as hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
twigs were used in England, may also have, by folk etymology, influenced the "witch" part of the name.
Genera
The Persian Ironwood, a closely related treeTree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
formerly treated as Hamamelis persica, is now given a genus of its own, as Parrotia persica, as it differs in the flowers not having petals. Other closely allied genera are Parrotiopsis, Fothergilla
Fothergilla
Fothergilla is a genus of two or three species of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, native to the southeastern United States.They are deciduous shrubs growing to 1–3 m tall with downy twigs...
and Sycopsis (see under Hamamelidaceae
Hamamelidaceae
The Hamamelidaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales, including 27 genera and about 80-90 species, all shrubs and small trees...
). Witch-hazels are not closely related to the true Corylus hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
s, though they have a few superficially similar characteristics which may cause one to believe that they are.
Cultivation and uses
They are popular ornamental plantOrnamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
s, grown for their clusters of rich yellow to orange-red flowers which begin to expand in the autumn as or slightly before the leaves fall, and continue throughout the winter.
Garden shrubs
Hamamelis virginiana was introduced into English gardens by Peter Collinson, who maintained correspondence with plant hunters in the American colonies. In gardens the American H. virginiana has been superseded, except for historical garden restoration or for American native plant enthusiasts, by the more decorative Hamamelis mollisHamamelis mollis
Hamamelis mollis is a species of witch-hazel native to central and eastern China, in Anhui, Guangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Zhejiang.It is a deciduous large shrub or small tree growing to 8 m tall...
, which flowers in earliest spring, on the bare branches, instead of hiding its fall blooms among golden autumn foliage. The plant-hunter Charles Maries
Charles Maries
Charles Maries was an English botanist and plant collector who was sent by James Veitch & Sons of Chelsea, London to search for new hardy plants in Japan, China and Taiwan between 1877 and 1879; there he discovered over 500 new species, which Veitch introduced to England...
collected for Veitch Nurseries
Veitch Nurseries
The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into two separate businesses - based at Chelsea and...
in the Chinese district of Jiujiang
Jiujiang
Jiujiang , formerly transliterated Kiukiang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city in Jiangxi province, the largest one being Nanchang...
in 1879. It languished in nursery rows for years until it was noticed, propagated and put on the market in 1902.
Numerous cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s have been selected for use as garden shrubs, many of them derived from the hybrid H. × intermedia Rehder (H. japonica × H. mollis). Jelena and Robert de Belder of Arboretum Kalmthout
Arboretum Kalmthout
The Arboretum Kalmthout is a botanical garden in Kalmthout, Belgium. It was started as a tree plantation by Charles Van Geert in 1857. In 1986 it became property of the Antwerp province and is now open to public.-External links:...
, selecting for red cultivars, found three: the first, with bronze flowers, was named 'Jelena'; the next, with red flowers, was named 'Diane' (the name of their daughter); the last, with deep red flowers, was called 'Livia' (the name of their granddaughter).
Medicinal uses
The bark and leaves are astringentAstringent
An astringent substance is a chemical compound that tends to shrink or constrict body tissues, usually locally after topical medicinal application. The word "astringent" derives from Latin adstringere, meaning "to bind fast"...
; the extract, also referred to as witch hazel
Witch Hazel (astringent)
Witch hazel is an astringent produced from the leaves and bark of the North American Witch-hazel shrub , which grows naturally from Nova Scotia west to Ontario, Canada, and south to Florida and Texas in the United States...
, is used medicinally. Extracts from its bark and leaves are used in aftershave lotions and lotions for treating bruises and insect bites. Witch-hazel helps to shrink and contract blood vessels back to normal size, hence its use as the active ingredient in many hemorrhoid
Hemorrhoid
Hemorrhoids or haemorrhoids , are vascular structures in the anal canal which help with stool control. They become pathological or piles when swollen or inflamed. In their physiological state they act as a cushion composed of arterio-venous channels and connective tissue that aid the passage of...
medications. It is also a common treatment for postnatal
Postnatal
Postnatal is the period beginning immediately after the birth of a child and extending for about six weeks. Another term would be postpartum period, as it refers to the mother...
tearing of the perineum
Perineum
In human anatomy, the perineum is a region of the body including the perineal body and surrounding structures...
. The seeds contain a quantity of oil and are edible. It is also used in treating acne
Acne
Acne is a general term used for acneiform eruptions. It is usually used as a synonym for acne vulgaris, but may also refer to:*Acne aestivalis*Acne conglobata*Acne cosmetica*Acne fulminans*Acne keloidalis nuchae*Acne mechanica...
. Witch Hazel is also used in treating psoriasis and eczema.
Ecology
Hamamelis species are used as food plants by the larvaLarva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
species including Feathered Thorn
Feathered Thorn
The Feathered Thorn is a moth of the family Geometridae.-Etymology:The common name Feathered Thorn derives from the very strong feathering on the antennae of the male...
.