The shafts and handles of magic wands are crafted from the wood of magical trees. Here are descriptions of two such trees taken from the book Magical Wands - A Cornucopia of Wand Lore, which documents in detail 24 magical trees commonly used in the crafting of magic wands:

• Alder
• Apple
• Other Commonly Used Wand Trees

Alder Wands

An alder wand is any wand that is crafted out of wood from an alder tree. More specifically, an alder wand is any wand that has an alder shaft, an alder handle, or both.

Alder Trees

Wand makers have historically used wood from the alder trees of their homelands for making alder wands. For centuries, European wand makers have made alder wands from the wood of the Common or Black alder (Alnus glutinosa), although wood from the Italian alder (A. cordata) has also been used. On the other hand, Asian wand makers have typically used the wood of the Japanese alder (A. japonica), Nepalese alder (A. nepalensis), or Manchurian alder (A. hirsuta). Finally, North American wand makers often use wood from the Red alder (A. rubra) or White alder (A. rhombifolia), whereas South American wand makers favor Andean alder (A. acuminata).

The makers of alder wands must be able to recognize alder trees, even though they can vary greatly in height. For example, the red alder and the common alder are the largest of the alders. Their average height is from 55 to 75 feet, and both may reach over 90 feet. Conversely, the green alder is a shrub that rarely exceeds 15 feet high.

Illustration: Common Alder Tree with Twig and Bark

The common alder tree grows rapidly, flowers from February through early April, and drops its dark leaves in autumn. It can usually be found growing in marshy areas or in the moist or wet ground near the edges of rivers, streams, or lakes. The best time to harvest branches of the alder tree is during the week of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.

Alder trees have the following folk names: Gummy, Gluey, Rugose, and Tree of the Fairies.

Magical Properties and Uses

Alder wands have alder wood for the handle, the shaft, or both. Because the degree to which a specific type of wood strengthens spells of a specific spell set is roughly proportional to the amount of that wood in the wand, there is not much difference between using that wood for the handle or shaft. However, the wood’s ability to strengthen spells is roughly doubled when it is used for both handle and shaft.

As the following table shows, the magical properties of alder wood are the same for all types of alder trees.

Elemental

Alder trees have the elemental Water for they are often found in moist or wet ground near the edges of rivers, streams, or lakes. Alder wands work best when strengthening water spells from the following spell sets:

• Clean – Alder wands excel at casting spells that clean their targets, typically by washing them.
• Control Precipitation – Alder wands excel at casting spells that control various types of precipitation such as spells to create, change, or put a stop to rain, snow, or hail.
• Control Water – Alder wands excel at casting spells that control water such as creating it, moving it, or even drying it up.

Phases

Alder trees have the phase Light, and alder wands are quite good at casting defensive spells. Alder wands work best when strengthening light spells from the following spell set:

• Protect – Alder wands are widely recognized for excelling at casting defensive light spells that protect people and valuables from harm due to dangers such as poisons, curses, and theft.

Alder wands also work best when strengthening twilight spells from the same spell set:

• Protect – Alder wands excel at casting defensive twilight spells such as spells to make one invisible, disarm attackers, and reflect offensive spells back at attackers.

Finally, alder trees also have the phase Darkness, and alder wands work best when strengthening dark spells from the following spell sets:

• Be Dark – Alder wands excel at casting spells that make it darker or blind their targets.
• Destroy – Alder wands excel at casting spells that destroy their targets such as buildings, machines, and other objects.

Gender

Alder wood has the gender Masculine, and alder wands thus tend to work better for wizards than witches.

Additional Characteristics

Alder wands are widely recognized to work best for the casting of offensive and defensive spells. Thus, they are best suited for brave witches and wizards such as those who seek adventure in journeys and quests made dangerous through contact with shadow creatures, especially the formerly human (e.g., vampires and werewolves) and near human such as incubi and succubi. The ability of alder wands to increase the strength of offensive and defensive spells makes them highly prized by dark witches and wizards, especially those who seek power and riches through violence and intimidation. Finally, alder wands are often used by those courageous witches or wizards who serve the magical community by hunting those mages who break our laws and conventions.

Famous Wand

The following famous wizard used an alder wand:

• Karl Knochenbrenner (1643-1870 CE) – common alder

Additional Magical Uses

In addition to its use in wands, alder wood has the following magical uses:

• Amulets – Alder wood is used in the crafting of certain amulets for protection from dark spells and poisonings.
• Charms – Alder wood is sometimes used in the crafting of general good luck charms but is more effective when used in protective amulets.
• Talismans and Staffs – Alder talismans and staffs have essentially the same magical properties as alder wands.
• Potions – Alder wood is used in the brewing of poison antidote potions.

Working with Alder Wood

Common alder wood has the following properties related to wood working and the crafting of wands:

• Drying – Common alder dries well and fairly rapidly. Alder wood will shrink about 4% across the grain and 7% with the grain while drying, and this can be important when harvesting living wood for crafting a wand (or staff) of a specific length.
• Color – Common alder is a warm light brown when freshly cut, but it rapidly changes to a bright deep orange color, which makes the tree appear to bleed. As it dries, the color fades to a dull nut brown. The sapwood and heartwood are typically indistinguishable. Common alder is relatively porous and takes wood stains well.
• Grain – Common alder has a straight grain, with a fine close texture. However, wild trees – especially those that grow near streams – tend to have irregular trunks and curved grain.
• Strength – Common alder bends relatively easily and has a medium crushing strength. Alder tends to be dimensionally stable and holds its shape well after drying.
• Wood Working – Common alder wood cuts well with a saw. It responds well to a sharp wood plane. Alder glues well when making dual-wood wands. Because alder wood is relatively soft, alder wands are very easy to ornately shape, carve and sand.
• Other Common Uses – Alder is often used in making furniture, cabinets, and other woodworking products. Because of its ability to resist water damage, many of the pilings that form the foundation of Venice, Italy and Amsterdam, Holland were made from alder trees.

Because of its softness, alder wands are very susceptible to damage. Care should therefore be taken when buying an alder wand to ensure that it has been properly strengthened by appropriate magical spells or the incorporation of a magical core (such as a sliver of dragon scale) that adequately enhances the toughness of the wood. Were it not for the important magical properties of alder wood and the existence of ways to strengthen it, the natural softness of the wood would greatly limit its use in wands.

Apple Wands

An apple wand is any wand that is crafted out of wood from an apple tree. More specifically, an apple wand is any wand that has an apple wood shaft, an apple wood handle, or both.

Apple Trees

Apple trees have the folk names: Fruit of the Gods, Fruit of the Underworld, Silver Branch, Silver Bough, and Tree of Love.

Apple trees are widely found in middle latitudes, especially in the northern hemisphere. Almost all apple wood wands are made from the wood of the common domesticated apple tree (Malus domestica). Rarely, wands have also been made from the wild ancestor of the domesticated apple tree (M. sieversii), which can still be found growing in Western Asia.

The easiest way for a wand maker to recognize an apple tree, at least during the fall, is naturally to look for the apples, either on the tree or lying on the ground beneath it. They have white or slightly pink flowers in the spring, bear fruit in the fall, and lose their leaves during the winter. They are relatively small trees and are typically between 10 and 20 feet tall, especially when pruned to make the apples easier to harvest. The biggest apple trees can grow up to 40 feet when left alone. When they are grown in full sunlight, apple trees have many large branches low on the trunk, giving them a canopy of branches and leaves that is typically wider than the tree is tall.

Illustration: Apple Tree, Bark, and Twig

Magical Properties and Uses

Apple wands have apple wood for the handle, the shaft, or both. Because the degree to which a specific type of wood strengthens spells of a specific spell set is roughly proportional to the amount of that wood in the wand, there is not much difference between using that wood for the handle or shaft. However, the wood’s ability to strengthen spells is roughly doubled when it is used for both handle and shaft.

As the following table shows, the magical properties of apple wood are the same for all types of apple trees.

Elemental

Apple trees are one of the few trees that have the elemental Quintessence. Apple wands work best when strengthening the following types of quintessential spells:

• Enchant – Commonly used by wand makers, apple wands excel at casting spells used to enchant other wands, amulets, charms, and staffs.
• Travel to Faerie – Apple wands excel at casting spells that enable their subjects to travel back and forth to Faerie, either via portal or apparation.

Apple trees have the elemental Fire, probably because of their bright red fruit and the sap wood being a light red in color. Apple wands work best when strengthening the following types of fire spells:

• Protect – Long used to protect people and property from fire, apple wands excel at casting defensive spells that protect against fire-related dangers such as fires and their resulting burns.

Long associated with fertile soil and farm land, apple trees also have the elemental Earth. Apple wands work best when strengthening earth spells from the following spell sets:

• Be Fertile – Highly valued by magical doctors and midwives, apple wands excel at casting spells that make people or animals more fertile or make childbirth easier.
• Enter – A very effective magnifier of the magic associated with entry into protected places, apple wands excel at casting spells that unlock doors or enable their targets to pass through locked doors, walls, and other barriers.
• Make Plants Thrive – Valued by farmers, apple wands are widely recognized to excel at casting spells that create new plants, increase their growth, or cause abundant harvests.

Phase

Apple wood has phase Light, and apple wands work best when strengthening light spells.

• Be Healed – Closely associated with healing, apple wands excel at casting spells that heal their targets from illnesses, injuries, or dark maladies.
• Love – Highly prized by matchmakers, apple wands are widely recognized as excellent at casting spells that make their targets fall in love, whether romantically or platonically.
• Reveal – Apple wands excel at casting light spells, and to a lesser extent twilight spells, from this spell set.

Gender

Apple wood has the gender Feminine, and apple wands thus tend to work better for witches than wizards.

Additional Characteristics

The common humble apple tree is one of the most magical of trees. Not only is it one of the few trees that excel at casting quintessential spells, apple is also one of the very few woods that works best strengthening spells of three different elementals. Apple wood is also strongly tuned to the Light, and apple wood wands are rarely if ever used by dark witches and wizards.

Famous Wand

The following famous witch used an apple wand:

• Angéle de la Barthe (1230-1275 CE) – common domesticated apple tree

Additional Magical Uses

In addition to its use in wands, apple wood has the following magical uses:

• Amulets – Apple wood is used in the crafting of amulets for protection from deception.
• Charms – Apple wood is often used in the crafting of bountiful harvest, fertility, good health, and love charms.
• Talismans and Staffs – Apple wood talismans and wizard staffs have essentially the same characteristics of apple wood wands.
• Potions – Apple wood is used in the brewing of healing and love potions.
• Other Uses – Along with hawthorn wood and yew wood, Celtic mages often used small disks of apple wood marked with runes for divination.

Working with Apple Wood

Apple wood has the following properties related to wood working and the crafting of wands:

• Drying – Apple wood dries slowly. Apple wood may warp badly or split if the drying conditions are not carefully controlled. It will shrink about 6% across the grain and 10% with the grain during drying. It also tends to swell and shrink due to seasonal changes in humidity.
• Color – Apple sapwood is light red. Apple heartwood varies from a light reddish or grayish brown to a deeper red/brown. Apple wood also takes wood stains well.
• Grain – Apple wood has a straight grain, and its texture is fine and even. Apple also has closed pores. The grain of apple sometimes has streaks of darker and lighter bands of color.
• Strength – Similar to oak, apple wood is very hard and dense. Once dried and seasoned, apple holds its shape well with high dimensional stability.
• Wood Working – While highly resistant to cutting, apple wood cuts cleanly with a sharp plane and turns well on a lathe although care must be taken to avoid burning the wood. It is relatively easy to bore the core. Given its fine texture, apple wood is very suitable for carving. Apple wood glues, sands, stains, and polishes well.
• Other Common Uses – Apple wood is used in the crafting of fine furniture, tool handles, mallet heads, and other small specialty wood objects. It is also used to for carving and objects turned on a lathe.

Other Commonly Used Wand Trees

Other commonly used wand trees described in detail in the book Magical Wands - A Cornucopia of Wand Lore include:

• Ash
• Birch
• Blackthorn
• Cedar
• Cherry
• Ebony
• Elder
• Elm
• Hawthorn
• Hazel
• Holly
• Lignum vitae
• Mahogany
• Maple
• Oak
• Pear
• Poplar
• Rowan
• Sycamore
• Walnut
• Willow
• Yew