WHERE TO FIND THIS PLANT ON SBC CAMPUS
There is a witch-hazel on the right hand side of the main entrance road (entering the college), just before the turn to Farmhouse Rd.

MEDICINAL USES AND CHEMICAL INFORMATION:

Witch-Hazel contains tannins which are bitter-tasting, complex aromatic compounds that are found in the vacuoles of the bark. Tannins are highly astringent and are therefore used in many health care products today. Distilled extracts are used as an astringent for hemorrhoids and for toning skin. They are also used in ointments for suppressing profuse menstrual flow and for hemorrhoids, in eyewashes for eye ailments, and in suppositories.

NATIVE AMERICAN USES:

Native Americans used the leaf tea for colds and sore throats. Twig tea was rubbed on athletes' legs to keep the muscles loose and limber and to relieve lameness. The twig tea was also drunk for dysentery, cholera, cough, and asthma. Astringent bark tea was taken internally for lung ailments and used externally for bruises and sore muscles.

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS:

Witch-Hazel is a deciduous shrub or small tree that can be up to fifteen feet tall. The leaves are obovate (egg shaped and flat) and have wavy-toothed edges. The end buds are distinctly flat on top with a round bottom. The flowers are yellow and are in axillary clusters and bloom from September to December after the leaves drop off. The petals of the flowers are very slender.