WITCH-HAZEL, the common name for a North American shrub, Hamamelis virginica (family Hamamelidaceae), native to low woods from Nova Scotia to Minnesota and south to Florida and Texas. It grows from so to 25 ft. high, with smooth, wavy-toothed leaves, somewhat unequal-sided at the base. The showy bright-yellow flowers, borne in profuse axillary clusters, appear in autumn as the leaves are falling. The fruit, a hard, woody capsule that matures during the ensuing summer, con tains two black shining seeds, which are forcibly ejected when ripe. A fluid extract, prepared from the leaves, is used as a tonic
and a lotion. The name witch-hazel is derived from the use of the twigs as divining rods, just as hazel twigs were used in Eng land. The North American witch-hazel is occasionally planted for ornament, as are H. japonica, of Japan, and H. mollis, of China.