Witch Hazel

Witch hazel is a shrub of the woodland understory, and it is the first medicine a household reaches for, before a healer is sent for. It is used as an astringent for bruises, insect bites, sores, itching, swelling, sore eyes, swollen veins, and piles, and it is gentle in comparison with the plants about it. A liquid made from its leaves, twigs, and bark is itself called witch hazel and is sold for the care of the skin. Taken inwardly, it is used for coughs, colds, asthma, and the flux, and for canker sores of the mouth. Its nutty seeds are eaten.

Diviners cut its forked branches to search for water, and it is said that the branch dips where water lies beneath. The wood also makes bows. It flowers late in the year, when other trees have lost their leaves, and its seed capsules burst open and fling their seeds some distance. The name is said to come from an old word for bendable.

See also: Dandelion, Vervain