![]() ![]() One theory about the common name witch hazel is that “witch” may be a derivative of the old English wych, meaning “to bend,” in reference to trees with pliant branches, while “hazel” may be due to the resemblance of the leaves to those of true hazels in the genus Corylus (Betulaceae). 13Ī pre-Linnaean polynomial Pistacia nigra Coryli folio is the earliest known Latin name assigned to American witch hazel and was published in a 1688 catalog of Virginia plants by botanist John Banister (1650–1692). Instead, he noted, they had only bows of “witch hazle” and arrows of reeds. 1552–1618), observed in his book A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia that the indigenous Carolina Algonquian people had no edge tools or weapons of iron or steel to defend themselves. 1560–1621), assistant to Sir Walter Raleigh (ca. In 1588, English colonist, ethnographer, cartographer, and linguist Thomas Hariot (ca. 10,11 Thayers Natural Remedies (Easton, Connecticut) uses organic cultivated material grown exclusively for the company, after it entered into an agreement in 2013 with a family farm in Fairfield County, Connecticut. are both produced at American Distilling’s East Hampton location. 9 Over-the-counter (OTC) witch hazel drug products from Dickinson Brands, Inc. 8 A range of cosmetic products marketed by Estée Lauder, L’Oréal, Revlon, and Neutrogena reportedly contain witch hazel from American Distilling. (East Hampton, Connecticut), which is also reported to be the world’s largest producer of organic and conventional distilled witch hazel extracts, with 20,000 acres of wilderness for certified organic wild harvesting of witch hazel. ![]() 7 One of the large organic wild-crop operations is American Distilling, Inc. 6 Today, the certified organic raw material supply is obtained mainly from wild collection in Connecticut, Kentucky, and Missouri. 3Įastern Connecticut is known as the “witch hazel capital of the world.” 5 Historically, the material of commerce used for the manufacture of witch hazel drug products has been obtained from wild collection near distillation facilities in the New England region (e.g., in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island), but also in Appalachia. Interestingly, witch hazel is pollinated in autumn when it flowers but is not fertilized until spring, and the fruit, which matures in late summer, remains on the plant even after flowering commences again in autumn. 3,4 Witch hazel produces mildly fragrant yellow flowers on its branches in late autumn after the leaves have dropped, and even during periods when there is frost or when temperatures fall below freezing. The plants, which sucker freely and form dense clumps, grow 9-16 feet (3-5 m) tall, and sometimes up to 30 feet (9 m) in their native habitat. Hamamelis virginiana is a common tree or treelike shrub that occurs in deciduous forests of the eastern half of Canada and the United States, from Nova Scotia to Wisconsin in the north and northern Florida to eastern Texas in the south. japonica (Japanese witch hazel), and some unresolved species, including H. ![]() vernalis (vernal or Ozark witch hazel), H.
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