Witch hazel is a fall-blooming shrubby tree distributed throughout the woods of the eastern half of North America. The plant is also known as snapping hazelnut, although it should not be confused with the cobnut or filbert nut (aka hazelnut) harvested from one of a dozen species of hazel in the birch family of trees.
Early New England settlers learned how to use witch hazel from Native Americans, who made decoctions and tinctures from the bark to address insect bites, wounds and other topical ailments. Witch hazel extract is still widely available in pharmacies and, at one time, the extract of the herb was the key ingredient in Ponds Extract, the mid-19th century beauty cream that eventually became known as Pond's Vanishing Cream and later still as Pond's Cold Cream.
