Solved!! Witch Hazel......This one is easy as a late October-fest...

[WDH]

One more from today's jaunt in the steaming woods.....What is this little plant?

[OneWithWood]

Twig.

[Texas Ranger]

A people support?

[WDH]

What did people used to do with a Y-pointed stick?

[Raider Bill]

Catch snakes?

[thurlow]

What did people used to do with a Y-pointed stick?

waterwitching, ..............speaking of witch  ;D, 'y'ever find an underground pipe, wire, line, etc with a couple of right-angle-bent wires?  Weird................

[OneWithWood]

uhmmmm

witch hazel twig?

[WDH]

Witch Hazel is exactly right 8).

[LeeB]

Did you get a better shot of the leaves to help educate us identification chalanged  people?

[WDH]

 Here you go, LeeB.





The leaves have very distinct wavy boundaries.  Looks a little bit like alder, but the waviness seems more haphazard and less refined.  Kind of a wandering waviness .

[LeeB]

Thank you very much there WDH. I pretty much new all the trees where I was living in central Texas, but since moving to Arkyland I'm having to learn a whole nother batch. ( weren't that many to Identify on C.Texas  :D)

[SwampDonkey]

Found some witch hazel today on a thinning block. It was pretty much overwhelmed by the beaked hazel though. ;D I found they were just done flowering and had capsule-like fruit. Rarely see the shrub, this was a bit south of here.

[WDH]

Interesting that beaked hazel is in the birch family while witch hazel is in the same family and a first cousin of sweetgum! 

[Weekend_Sawyer]

Do they use Witch Hazel in making the medicine?

[WDH]

Yes, but I do not know much about it. 

[SwampDonkey]

Some of these ingredients get sythesized like they did the Canada Yew to bring costs (to the manufacturer down) and ensure supply. You have to question how much cheaper it is sometimes because those synthesized ingredients have to come from somewhere. Probably more to do with control. ;)