Dickinson, continued the family business with competing “Dickinson’s” businesses in different towns.Įventually, the two companies came under the same corporate ownership. Thomas Newton Dickinson, Sr., refined Hawes’s process and is credited with the first commercial production of Witch-Hazel extract, also in Essex, Connecticut, in 1866.
“Hawes Extract” was first produced and sold in Essex, Connecticut, by druggist Alvan Whittemore in 1846. Charles Hawes learned of Witch-Hazel’s therapeutic properties and created his own extract by steam distillation of the twigs and bark.
Early settlers in New England adopted these practices and use became widely established. Native Americans used extracts from the branches and leaves medicinally, such as boiling the stems to make a decoction to treat swelling and inflammation. Ruffed Grouse, Northern Bob-White, Wild Turkeys, Eastern Gray Squirrels, and Eastern Cottontail Rabbits all eat Witch-Hazel fruit.Īmerican Witch-Hazel is also useful to people. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0 <, via Wikimedia Commons.Īccording to entomologist Doug Tallamy, there are 60 species of butterflies and moths that feed on Witch-Hazel leaves. The fruits have already ‘fired’ their seeds. In the this photo you can see last’s year’s fruits of American Witch-Hazel. The fruit can send the seed up to 30 feet (10 meters) away, an evolutionary advantage to reach potentially improved growing conditions. A ridge in the fruit’s inner chamber causes the seed when “fired” to spin like a bullet up to 430 times per second.
#Hazel crack crack#
The outer layer of the ripe fruit both shrinks and expands, constricting the middle section, and forcing the seeds out with an audible snap or crack at more than 32 feet (10 meters) per second! Witch-Hazel is also called “Snapping Hazel” because of this. When this plant releases its seeds, it does it in a spectacular way. It takes eight months to one year for fruits to ripen. The fruit of American Witch-Hazel is a two-part, greenish seed capsule that becomes woody. Witch-Hazel ‘Diane’ (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’) is a hybrid of two Asian species, H. The name “hazel” comes from the resemblance of Witch-Hazel fruit to the fruit of the unrelated American Hazelnut ( Corylus americana). A dowsing rod allegedly points downward to water underground. The origin of the name Witch-Hazel is the Old English wice, meaning “bendable.” This may refer to the plant’s curved branching or that its branches are used by dowsers to find water, which was common until the beginning of the twentieth century. Photo by Cbaile19, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. It’s flowers can range from pale yellow to a dark, reddish purple. Unlike American Witch-Hazel which blooms in late fall, Ozark Witch-Hazel ( Hamamelis vernalis) blooms in the spring. There are several hybrids of early, yellow-, orange-, or red-blooming cultivars of these. Unlike our native witch-hazels, these non-native species bloom in late winter and early spring. There are two other natives-Ozark Witch-Hazel ( Hamamelis vernalis) and Big-Leaf Witch-Hazel ( Hamamelis ovalis)-and two non-native witch-hazels-the Chinese Witch-Hazel ( Hamamelis mollis) and Japanese Witch-Hazel ( Hamamelis japonica). They will lose this heat quickly, so they need to stop often to shiver again. By shivering its flight muscles, this moth can raise its temperature by 50☏ (27.8☌) above the air temperature! And owlet moths are active at night, when they warm their bodies to 86☏ (30☌) to be able to fly. I have often wondered… what could pollinate a flower so late in the season, when all other flowers have faded and the weather can be quite cold? Late-flying bees and parasitic wasps have been suggested, but biologist Bernd Heinrich discovered that a few species in the Owlet Moth family (Noctuidae) feed on the tree sap as well as nectar from the fragrant flowers of Witch-Hazel. Photo by Fritzflohrreynolds, CC BY-SA 3.0 <, via Wikimedia Commons. Look for American Witch-Hazel’s (Hamamelis virginiana) fragrant, crinkly-yellow flowers in November in Connecticut. Witch-Hazel blooms from September through November. The flowers will last even after its leaves turn brown and fall off. It’s a 20- to 30-foot (6- to 10-meter) small tree or shrub with crinkly, bright yellow ribbon-like petals that are often found among the medium-yellow autumn foliage. At this time of year, I am always surprised when I come across a flash of bright yellow from the last native flowering plant of the year: the native American Witch-Hazel ( Hamamelis virginiana). Leaves are fading to shades of brown and gray and dropping fast in the late fall winds as I walk along a local trail.
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