Various parts of witch hazel stem, leaves, fruit,
and blooms (Köhler, 1897)

Plants as medicine is a concept older than even early Egyptian cultures. Witch hazel was used by the Native Americans as early as 1751. Its history of uses come from many different tribes, including the Mahican, Potawatomi, Chippewa, and Oneida. The stems of witch hazel were boiled in water in order to create “magic water”. The liquid was used to treat cuts, bruises, scratches, hemorrhaging, inflammation, and sore eyes. The water, heated with hot stones, also acted as a steam which was used to relieve sore muscles.

Colonists adopted the use of witch hazel as medicine from the Native Americans. The earliest mention of witch hazel by the colonists comes from a book of home remedies written around 1816. One colonist noted witch hazel’s strength in treating someone with eye troubles: “He saw an almost total blindness, occasioned by a blow, cured by receiving the warm steam of a decoction of the bark of this plant through a funnel upon the place. This was done by direction of a Mohawk Indian, after other means had for a considerable time proved ineffectual” (Fulling, 1953, p. 364). Witch hazel was applied topically or internally, by way of extract (witch hazel bark), or an infusion of witch hazel’s leaves to make a tea.