{"id":247,"date":"2011-03-07T14:28:20","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T22:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/garden\/?p=247"},"modified":"2015-11-24T07:32:57","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:32:57","slug":"witch-hazel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/witch-hazel\/","title":{"rendered":"Witch Hazel"},"content":{"rendered":"

WITCH HAZEL
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>When I was a child and had a cut, bruise or other swelling, some older member of the family would invariably say, “Put some witch hazel on that.”\u009d\u00a0 We had a bottle of witch hazel in the bathroom linen closet and even though people recommended witch hazel regularly, the bottle never seemed to change.\u00a0 The level of witch hazel inside was always the same, the label was always the same and the bottle itself was always in the exact same spot.\u00a0 I found that bottle after both my parents died and threw it away on the grounds that it had probably metamorphosed into something toxic.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The bottle I threw away can’t possibly have been the same as the one my parents bought shortly after their marriage, because I have dim memories of the substance actually being dabbed on me.\u00a0 It is very useful for everything from insect bites to small wounds.\u00a0 The shrub from which it comes is equally useful in the garden.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Last week I caught sight of a splendid witch hazel in full bloom.\u00a0 From a distance I thought it was a forsythia, because of the bright yellow blooms, but common sense told me it was too early for even the bravest forsythia.\u00a0 A closer look confirmed my second guess–witch hazel.\u00a0 The tip off is the unusual flowers, which cover the plant and look like golden spiders.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The witch hazel I saw might well have been a popular variety called ‘Arnold Promise’, a hybrid of two Asian species, Hamamelis mollis and Hamamelis japonica.\u00a0 Known botanically as Hamamelis x intermedia, ‘Arnold Promise’ and hybrids like it can grow between fifteen and twenty feet tall, with an upright habit.\u00a0 According to woody plant expert Michael Dirr, there were, as of 1998, at least fifty cultivated varieties of the intermedia hybrids.\u00a0 Some have yellow flowers, often with red centers; others have red or red orange blooms.\u00a0
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Witch hazel’s other great attraction is its sweet fragrance, which is strong in ‘Arnold Promise’ and present in varying degrees in other species and hybrids. \u00a0If you are tired of all the usual winter smells–wet wool, oil heat and stuffy interiors–walk by a witch hazel in full bloom and you will think of spring.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When witch hazel is out of bloom, you can recognize it by the rounded leaves, which have parallel veins and grow alternately on the plant’s stems.\u00a0 Depending on the species and variety, the leaves color in the fall, turning shades of yellow and red before falling from the branches.\u00a0 The bark on mature specimens is smooth and gray or gray- brown, while new growth is sometimes pubescent or hairy.\u00a0 Witch hazels produce hard seed capsules after the flowers have fallen away.\u00a0 Eventually the capsules split open, projecting the shiny black seeds up to thirty feet from the original plant.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Witch hazel is neither a true hazel nor a tool of the witches’ trade.\u00a0 As is generally the case, the common name has more to do with etymology than sorcery. \u00a0In Old English, “wice”\u009d means pliable. “Wice”\u009d was eventually transformed into “wyche,”\u009d which was applied to various English trees with pliable branches.\u00a0 This word may have been used to describe the equally pliable stems of Hamamelis species, evolving over time into “witch.”\u009d\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Witch hazel’s rounded leaves resemble those of true hazel family members, and that probably accounts for the “hazel”\u009d part of the common name.\u00a0 Hamamelis has its own genus, Hamamelidaceae, which also includes the familiar shrub fothergilla . True hazels belong to the genus Corylus, part of the birch or Betulaceae family.\u00a0 The “melis”\u009d part of the Latin genus and family name comes for the Greek word for “apple,”\u009d which probably relates to another perceived resemblance–that of apple and witch hazel leaves.\u00a0 Elsewhere in the world “melis”\u009d still means “apple,”\u009d and if you go to Athens today, you can enjoy a “melopita”\u009d or apple pastry.\u00a0
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some hamamelis species are native to North America, including vernal witch hazel or Hamamelis vernalis and Virginia witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana. The leaves and twigs of the latter are the source of medicinal witch hazel.\u00a0 Preparations made from the species have long been used internally and externally to reduce swelling and stop bleeding.\u00a0 It is still an ingredient in some hemorrhoid creams.\u00a0 Bottles of witch hazel, much like the one in my parents’ medicine cabinet, are still available in drug stores.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You don’t have to have inflammation or bleeding to need a witch hazel shrub–only a yearning for spring.\u00a0 Local nurseries sometimes carry a variety or two, but for a better selection try ForestFarm, 990 Tetherow Road, Williams, Oregon 97544; (541) 846-7269; <\/font><\/font>www.forestfarm.com<\/font><\/a>.\u00a0 The extensive catalog is $5.00.<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WITCH HAZEL \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When I was a child and had a cut, bruise or other swelling, some older member of the family would invariably say, “Put some witch hazel on that.”\u009d\u00a0 We had a bottle of witch hazel in the bathroom linen closet and even though people recommended witch hazel regularly, the bottle never seemed … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-interest","category-spring"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1544,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247\/revisions\/1544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}