witch hazel family

witch hazel family
the plant family Hamamelidaceae, characterized by trees and shrubs having alternate, simple leaves, flowers in clusters or heads, and fruit in the form of a double-beaked woody capsule, and including the sweet gum, witch alder, and witch hazel.

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Family Hamamelidaceae, comprising 23 genera of shrubs and trees, native to tropical and warm temperate regions.

The six species of the genus Hamamelis include such ornamentals as witch hazel, winter hazel, and Fothergilla, which are outstanding for their early flowering and fall leaf colour. Members of the family are characterized by simple leaves and by flowers with four or five petals and sepals each. American, or common, witch hazel (H. virginiana) flowers in fall and retains yellow, cuplike calyxes (collections of sepals) through the winter. The common name refers to the forked twigs that were sometimes used for water-witching, or dowsing to locate underground water. The fragrant liniment witch hazel is made from the dried leaves and sometimes from twigs and bark. Brilliant autumn leaf colour is an outstanding trait of ironwood (Parrotia persica). Another genus, Altingia, has seven species, all Asian and all valued for their timber. A. excelsa is one of the largest trees of the Asian tropics, sometimes reaching a height of 82 ft (25 m).

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • witch hazel family — witch′ ha zel fam ily n. pln a family, Hamamelidaceae, of trees and shrubs with simple alternate leaves, flowers in clusters, and aggregates of beaked fruit capsules: includes the sweet gum and witch hazel …   From formal English to slang

  • witch hazel family — the plant family Hamamelidaceae, characterized by trees and shrubs having alternate, simple leaves, flowers in clusters or heads, and fruit in the form of a double beaked woody capsule, and including the sweet gum, witch alder, and witch hazel …   Useful english dictionary

  • witch-hazel family — noun comprises genera Hamamelis, Corylopsis, Fothergilla, Liquidambar, Parrotia, and other small genera • Syn: ↑Hamamelidaceae, ↑family Hamamelidaceae • Hypernyms: ↑hamamelid dicot family • Member Holonyms: ↑Hamamelidae, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • witch hazel — n. [altered (infl. by WITCH) < wyche hazel < ME wyche < OE wice, applied to trees with pliant branches, akin to ON veikr, WEAK] 1. any of a genus (Hamamelis) of small North American and Asiatic trees and shrubs of the witch hazel family; …   English World dictionary

  • witch hazel — /wich hay zeuhl/ 1. a shrub, Hamamelis virginiana, of eastern North America, having toothed, egg shaped leaves and small, yellow flowers. Cf. witch hazel family. 2. a liquid extraction from the leaves or bark of this plant mixed with water and… …   Universalium

  • witch hazel — noun Etymology: witch, a tree with pliant branches, from Middle English wyche, from Old English wice; probably akin to Old English wīcan to yield more at weak Date: circa 1760 1. any of a genus (Hamamelis of the family Hamamelidaceae, the witch… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • witch hazel — 1540s, probably from O.E. wice wych elm (from wican to bend ) + hæsel, used for any bush of the pine family. The North American bush, from which a soothing lotion is made, was so called from 1670s …   Etymology dictionary

  • Witch-hazel — Taxobox name = Witch hazel image width = 240px image caption = Hamamelis virginiana regnum = Plantae divisio = Magnoliophyta classis = Magnoliopsida ordo = Saxifragales familia = Hamamelidaceae genus = Hamamelis genus authority = Gronov. ex L.… …   Wikipedia

  • hazel — hazelly, adj. /hay zeuhl/, n. 1. any shrub or small tree belonging to the genus Corylus, of the birch family, having toothed, ovate leaves and bearing edible nuts, as C. avellana, of Europe, or C. americana and C. cornuta, of the Western… …   Universalium

  • witch alder — noun any of several deciduous low growing shrubs of the genus Fothergilla having showy brushlike spikes of white flowers in spring and fiery red and orange autumn color; grows from Alabama to the Allegheny Mountains • Syn: ↑fothergilla •… …   Useful english dictionary

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