Native Americans have traditionally used witch hazel leaf and bark for their beneficial properties for generations. Witch hazel leaf has an astringent and slightly bitter taste and can be steeped as witch hazel tea or used in tincturing.

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.