. North American trees : being descriptions and illustrations of the trees growing independently of cultivation in North America, north of Mexico and the West Indies . Trees. Witch Hazel 411 hairy. The alternate leaves are 7 to 15 cm. long, ovate to nearly orbicular, sharp or long pointed, seldom rounded, the very uneven base rounded or slightly cordate on one side and wedge-shaped on the other, the margin entire toward the base, more or less scalloped toward the end, the upper side dark green and quite smooth, the venation on the lower side prominently hairy; the leaf-stalk is short, the smal
. North American trees : being descriptions and illustrations of the trees growing independently of cultivation in North America, north of Mexico and the West Indies . Trees. Witch Hazel 411 hairy. The alternate leaves are 7 to 15 cm. long, ovate to nearly orbicular, sharp or long pointed, seldom rounded, the very uneven base rounded or slightly cordate on one side and wedge-shaped on the other, the margin entire toward the base, more or less scalloped toward the end, the upper side dark green and quite smooth, the venation on the lower side prominently hairy; the leaf-stalk is short, the small stipules lanceolate. The flowers, which open in the autumn, during or after the falling of the leaves and the ripening of the previous year's fruit, are in clusters of 3 on short bracted peduncles at the axils of the leaves; calyx 4-parted, reflexed and hairy; petals 4, strap-shaped, crisped, to cm. long, bright yellow, but sometimes wanting; stamens 4, short, opposite the sepals, and alternate with 4 rudimentary stamens; the pistil con- sists of a woolly 2-celled ovary and a. Fig. 361. —Witch Hazel. short, stigma-pointed style. The fruits, of which there are usually 2 in a cluster, are about 15 mm. long, and are ovoid thickened, woody, hairy, 2-beaked capsules, splitting open at the top, exposing a polished iimer surface and ejecting, with con- siderable force, the suspended seeds, which are about 8 mm. long, smooth, nearly black, and shining. The wood is hard, close-grained, light brown; its specific gravity is about The branches have long been in use as divining rods for the supposed detection of water and minerals. An aqueous distillation over the fresh leaves and twigs is largely employed as a popular application to sprains and bruises; the absence, however, of any active constituent save the minutest trace of a volatile oil, strongly indicates that its virtues, if any, reside in the small quantity of alcohol added for its preservation. The generic name i
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