![]() ![]() That divining rod, with its head of entwined serpents, is what eventually became the well-known symbol of medicine. Dowsing has been referred to as far back as Homer, when he writes in The Odyssey about the divining rod called the Caduceus that ended up in the hands of Asclepius, the old Greek God of Healing. There is also a white bottlebrush flower cousin in the Hamamelidaceae family called witch alder, of the Fothergilla genus, so witchy-ness indeed spreads!ĭowsing is an ancient art that has yielded successful results for centuries for locating both water and precious metals underground. ![]() They are distantly related, but one way they are different is that witch hazel leaves are asymmetrical at the base. ![]() The hazel part of witch hazel’s name is derived from the resemblance of its leaves to those of the hazelnut ( Corylus americana ) tree, both being broadly oval and scalloped. 4 And one last reason for the name witch that I have come across over the years is that the witch hazel plant flowers near Samhain (Halloween), evidently from a witch’s spell. Still others believe its name comes from the shape of a gall that’s sometimes found on the leaf, caused by an aphid, that looks like a witch’s hat. It is said, though, that the “witch” in witch hazel originated instead from the Middle English word wiche, which means “to bend.” Think about wicker, which comes from the same root word, meaning “pliable branches that bend.” 3Īnother interpretation is that the name derives from the use of witch hazel’s branches for dowsing, also called “water witching.” Yet another idea is that it stems (pun intended) from the Middle English word wicke, meaning “lively,” which describes how the stems become alive and move when water is detected below. Witch as we use it today, comes from the old English word wicca, or wizard. I suppose once a medicinal plant has the name witch in it, it’s bound to be seen as magical in some way. John-Manual Andriote wrote that witch hazel is “one of the few products that’s both FDA-approved and endorsed by real witches.” 2 Now that is a special plant! But which witch is witch hazel? 1 More of the Lore Behind Witch Hazel’s Name Another name for the witch hazel tree is bead wood because its tiny seeds make a beautiful, hard and shiny, black nugget that can be used as jewelry. In this article, Juliet shares a humorously explosive story about the seed’s clever dispersal methods. The witch hazel flowers know they gotta get it while they can, and still, only one percent of the flowers will ever develop into seeds. These flowers are long-lived, as they patiently wait for weather warm enough to wake up an array of possible pollinators, from gnats to flies to moths. Witch hazel ( Hamamelis virginiana, Hamamelidaceae) is our kinky, golden-star flower shrub or small tree that blooms in cold weather when all other flowers are absent from the landscape. We have stirred up a witch hazel brew for you, now tossing even more folklore and medicinal recipes into our Hub for this plant ally! ![]()
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