The witch hazel is indeed the witch of the woods. It turns the year
up-side-down, by blossoming in October, at the same time that it is
ripening its seeds. For this reason every child who lives in a region
where this little tree grows should know the witch hazel. The better
people know it, the more wonderful they find it. It has many odd habits
and secrets, which it will reveal only to those who come and ask
questions, and keep their ears and eyes wide open to catch the answers.
In spring the witch hazel hides under its green leaves, and attracts no
attention from those who have come out to see the great procession of the
spring flowers, under foot, and over head. It is simply a part of the
undergrowth, a shrubby little tree. But come in October, to the same
place. The acorns are dropping from the oak, the foliage ablaze with
colour, or faded and falling. There are no flowers overhead, but a few
belated asters and goldenrods under foot. Squirrels are busy hiding
winter stores, gathered under the nut trees, and on the wild hawthorns.
A thicket of witch hazel is slowly dropping its yellowing leaves. You
might not have noticed it at all, had not one of the trees suddenly
called attention to itself by tweaking your ear! It is such a surprise to
feel in the silent woods the sharp sting of a shot from a silent air gun.
You stand still, listening, and feeling of your ear. It is a fine frosty
October day, and still. As you listen, another shot strikes the dead
leaves at your feet. Where do they come from? This question you will
probably not be able to answer at once; but while you are looking in the
bushes from which the missile seemed to come, thinking to rout some joker
from his ambush, you discover the blossoms of the witch hazel. Each one
is waving four little yellow petals, and among these delicate blossoms
the bullet pods are bunched. Some of these are yawning wide open, each
showing two empty seed pockets, but you do not find any seeds.
Cut a bundle of these things, and carry them home. Put them in a vase of
water. The delicate fragrance of the flowers will go through the house,
and every one will marvel that any tree or bush can be found in blossom
at the very end of the year. Now the strangest thing will happen. Above
the quiet talk around the evening lamp sounds the sharp click, as of a
bit of metal, or a bead striking the wall with considerable force. Every
one sits up to listen. A second click, this time on the glass covering a
picture, is located, and a little black object, smaller than an apple
seed, pointed and tipped with white, is picked up from the floor. It is
this seed which was thrown against the glass; and it does not require a
Sherlock Holmes to prove that it came out of one of the witch hazel seed
pods. If each person takes a twig, and keeps an eye upon the pods, that
show a slight opening, more than one of the pods will be seen when they
burst, and throw their seeds. The warmth of the indoor air springs the
trigger, and the tiny projectiles fly.
How surprised the squirrels must be when the witch hazel guns are
bombarding the dry leaf carpet of the woods! How much pleasure it gives
you to take your friends to the thicket, and explain to them the meaning
of those scattering shots the pods are firing each crisp autumn day! If
it is rainy weather the pods will all be closed. But let the sun come
out, and dry them, and the game begins again.
Can any one wonder that witch hazel trees grow in companies? Each little
tree flings its seeds in all directions, and for each seed planted a
little tree may come. Twenty feet from the parent tree the pods are able
to throw their seeds.
Extract of witch hazel is obtained by boiling twigs and leaves of this
tree in a still with alcohol. The Indians taught white men that this
plant contained a drug which had soothing and curative powers when rubbed
upon sprains and bruises. Whether there is any truth in this notion or
not, the belief is still strong, and people continue to rub extract of
witch hazel on their bruises, even though many doctors say there is
nothing medicinal in it but the alcohol.
[Illustration: The beech tree opens its two kinds of flowers after the
long, pointed winter buds have opened, and the lengthening shoot has
spread out its leaves.]
[Illustration: Catkins, staminate and pistillate, of a hornbeam and a
birch; catkins and acorn flowers of an oak]
In England the witch elm corresponds to our own witch hazel. No one in
the mining regions would dare to sink a shaft for coal unless he had
warrant for doing so from the actions of a divining rod in the hands of a
competent person. In other regions the digging of a well depends upon the
same thing, and this idea prevails in many parts of this country. An old
fellow who can “water witch” may be found in most old-fashioned
communities. If you wish to dig a well, you must call on him to locate
the site. He cuts a y-shaped twig from the witch hazel, trims it, and is
ready for the ceremony. Grasping one of the two tips in each hand, and
holding the main stem erect, he paces over the ground you have chosen. In
his rigid hands the supple twigs waver, and finally the wand bends
downward. This, according to popular belief, is the proper place to find
good water, and plenty of it. The water witch moves away, again holding
the stem erect. He comes back finally, and as he crosses the spot again,
the wand goes down. Now every one is sure that this is the spot, and the
well is dug. If the seer’s prediction comes true, his reputation
improves, and scoffers concede that “there may be something in it, after
all.” In regions where the witch hazel does not grow, a twig of wild plum
tree will do.