Description: Witch hazel is a deciduous shrub or small tree which grows in damp woods from Nova Scotia to Georgia and Nebraska; it is also cultivated elsewhere for its autumn-blooming flowers. Growing to a height of up to 15 feet, the stems and branches are covered with scaly gray to brown bark. The alternate, elliptic to obovate leaves are coarsely toothed and often are finely hairy on the veins underneath. The yellow flowers have 4 strap-shaped petals and grow in nodding, axillary clusters, blooming in autumn when the leaves are falling. The fruit is a woody capsule which ejects two shining black seeds when they ripen during the summer or autumn following the flowers. 

Properties and Uses: Astringent, hemostatic, sedative, tonic. Witch hazel leaves and bark have served mostly to make astringent preparations, which have been taken internally for diarrhea and used externally as a rinse or gargle for mouth and throat irritations and as a vaginal douche for vaginitis. For skin irritations, bruises, insect bites and stings, minor burns, and poison ivy, an ointment made from the fluid extract or a poultice can be applied. A poultice made from the inner bark is said to be effective for hemorrhoids and for eye inflammation. The inner bark also has sedative and hemostatic properties.