Hamamelis

HAMAMELIS (witch-hazel) substantive (gr. ama, at the same time; melon, fruit: fruit that reach maturity at the same time as the flowers). Botany – genus in the family Hamamelidaceae, of which we know only three or four species from China and North America. Hamamelis virginica is a shrub that is found in rainforests, from Canada to Louisiana. It can grow up to 7 meters high, but its height does not usually exceed 3 m 40; the flowers, budding during the summer, open up when the leaves fall, in October or November. Its fruit only ripen the following year. Its wood is white and dense, its bark and leaves contain large amounts of tannin and were used as astringent.
 
Extract from the Trousset encyclopedia, 1886 – 1891.