Witch Hazel Leaf Profile
Also known as
Hamamelis virginiana. Hamamelis, Winterbloom, and American Witch Hazel.
Introduction
Witch hazel is a leather-leafed deciduous shrub native to eastern United States. The bottoms of its leaves are dull gray, but the upward facing surfaces of the leaves are shiny green. Witch hazel is easy to recognize in the woods in autumn because as other trees are losing their leaves, witch hazel is covered with threadlike, golden-yellow flowers. Both the bark and the leaves are used in herbal medicine.
Constituents
Ascorbic acid, acetaldehyde, astragalin, beta-ionone, choline, gallic acid, hamamelidin, isoquercitrin, kaempferol, myricetin, phenol, quercitin, quercitrin, safrole, spiraeoside.
Parts Used
Leaf
Typical Preparations
Teas, tinctures, creams. Witch hazel bark water is made with alcohol, but witch hazel leaf water can be made without alcohol.
Summary
Witch hazel leaf is useful for making teas to treat diarrhea in children. It contains tannins that slow the leakage of fluids into the lumen (central opening) of the intestine, but it does not contain the harsher elagitannins that are found in the bark. Witch hazel leaf is more appropriate than witch hazel bark when there is an allergic component to symptoms; witch hazel bark is more appropriate than witch hazel leaf when the problem is vascular weakness (for instance, hemorrhoids) without allergy.
Precautions
Use only until symptoms subside. Do not give witch hazel teas by mouth to children for more than 3 days at a time.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
