Hamamelis virginiana.
Botanical name:
Hamamelis virginiana Linn. Hamamelideae. Witch-Hazel.
Northeastern United States. The seeds are used as food, says Balfour. The kernels are oily and eatable, says Lindley. The source of such statements, writes Gray, appears to be the Medical Flora of the eccentric Rafinesque, who says the nuts are called pistachio nuts in the Southern States, but Gray has never heard of the seeds being eaten. They are about the size of a grain of barley and have a thick, bony coat.
Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.
