Nature Bulletin No. 341-A   April 19, 1969
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
George W. Dunne, President
Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt of Conservation

****:SPICE BUSH AND WITCH HAZEL

Two aromatic shrubs add cheery spots of color among our woodlands 
when they are otherwise drab and bare. Both have long been used for 
medicinal purposes. The Spice Bush or Benjamin Bush, which blooms 
early in spring, bears clusters of tiny yellow flowers along its twigs and 
these flowers have a spicy odor. Its bark has a piquant flavor. The 
Witch Hazel bursts into an abundance of yellow bloom in October and 
November when other shrubs and trees are shedding their foliage, its 
own leaves are yellow and falling, and when its branches are still 
laden with last year's fruit. Few woody plants are so "contrary".

The spice bush, also called Wild Allspice and Fever Bush, is scattered 
throughout the eastern United States. It seems to prefer damp 
woodlands or thickets in swampy ground, and sometimes reaches a 
height of 15 feet. This and another American species, the Downy 
Fever Bush which extends as far north as southern Illinois, are 
members of the Laurel Family that includes such aromatic trees and 
shrubs as sassafras, cinnamon, camphor, bay, avocado, and the true 
laurel. During the Civil War, soldiers brewed tea from the leathery 
leaves and the greenish rubbery twigs of the Benjamin bush. Oil of 
benzoin, or "benjamin", was extracted from it for home remedies but 
most commercial benzoin is now made from plants such as the sweet 
gum tree, a relative of the witch hazel. Long ago, woodsmen learned 
that spice bush is one of the few hardwoods which burn readily when 
green. The little flowers lack petals but each has six lemon yellow 
sepals and they are clumped in clusters which, with the fruit, make it 
an ornamental shrub. The fruit, which ripens in autumn and clings on 
through winter, is a bright red oval berry, rich in oil and highly 
scented.

Witch Hazel, which may become a small tree 20 feet high, is found in 
forest edges or along stream banks in the central and eastern United 
States. It is numerous along the North Branch of the Chicago River in 
our Harms Woods preserve, and in various parts of Illinois as far south 
as Peoria. In northern regions it is the only native woody plant that 
bears flowers and matures fruit at the same time. Of the three 
American and three Asiatic species, the Chinese, Japanese and the 
Vernal Witch Hazel of south central United States bloom during 
January, February and March!

The common witch hazel has large oval leaves with wavy margins and 
prominent veins, a queer sickle-shaped terminal bud, and peculiar 
yellow flowers that appear in bright yellow clusters. Each has four 
twisted ribbon-like petals which, before opening, are tightly coiled like 
watch springs inside a bud no larger than a birdshot. Last year's nuts, 
ripening at this same time, look like grotesque monkey faces with 
staring eyes. When they pop open the two shiny black seeds may be 
catapulted 30 feet away. From the Indians, who used the dry powdered 
leaves to stop bleeding, the early settlers learned to distill all parts of 
the plant and obtain an astringent for healing cuts, bruises, in-named 
eyes and skin. Diluted with alcohol, it is still widely used by athletes 
and as a lotion.  For centuries, a forked twig of witch hazel has been 
preferred as a divining rod by dowsers - persons supposedly gifted with 
a mysterious power to locate underground water, precious metals, or 
hidden treasures.