Early Spring at Virginia Water

Part of my project was to walk here every week and take photos and learn by observation (and looking them up) what the plants are and what they do.



Heather garden, fine day

Heather garden, dull day

Tall white heather

Witch hazel! Also called Wych hazel. Introduced from China in 1879.

 Wych hazel was given its name by early settlers in North America. They thought that the leaves of the American species looked very like those of the common hazel in Britain, and therefore judged that their twigs would be equally suitable for water divining, which had been practised for a long time in Europe using forks of common hazel. The word wych is Old English for "pliant"; this quality had long been exploited by water-diviners, or "dowsers", who grip one fork of a hazel twig in each hand and pull them apart until they are under great pressure. As the twig is passed over underground water it will sometimes twist violently in the hands of the "dowser". There is, as yet, no scientific explanation for this phenomenon.

The bark, leaves and twigs of wych hazel, when distilled with alcohol, yield an extract which is used in medicine to prevent inflammation and control bleeding. (And is useful for soothing the eyes.)