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Discover Nature (Missouri Department of Conservation)

Discover Nature: Ozark Witch-Hazel

KBIA | By Kyle Felling
Published January 15, 2019 at 2:18 PM CST
A cluster of yellow-red flowers emerge from a twig of an Ozark witch-hazel shrub.
Ozark witch-hazel blooms in Missouri from January through April. Watch for these native flowering shrubs bringing some of the first offerings of color to Missouri’s wooded landscapes this week. ";

In the heart of winter, one Missouri shrub defies the dormant season: this week on Discover Nature, keep an eye out for Ozark witch-hazel.

 

This native shrub, with tight, gray bark, and alternate, egg-shaped leaves, brings some of the first color of the year to Missouri’s wooded landscapes. 

 

Yellow to dark-red, fragrant flowers adorn its branches from January through April.  In the fall, hard, woody fruits will pop open with enough force to throw seeds up to 30-feet away. 

 

At about ten-feet tall, look for this Missouri marvel in gravel and rocky, dry streambeds, or at the base of rocky slopes. 

 

Growing out of these precarious positions, this shrub’s roots help prevent erosion, and different parts of the plant provide food for deer, beaver, squirrels, rabbits, turkey, and grouse. 

 

Missourians have long used Ozark witch-hazel to make extracts for lotions and ointments, and “witch wigglers,” or “water witches” have traditionally used its forked branches to find the best places to dig water wells. 

 

Learn more about Ozark witch-hazel and find public lands near you to find it blooming in nature with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s online field guide, and atlas. 

 

Discover Nature is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation. 

 
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Arts and Culture Discover Nature
Kyle Felling
Kyle Felling’s work at KBIA spans more than three decades. He began volunteering at the station while he was a Political Science student at the University of Missouri. After being hired as a full-time announcer, he served as the long-time local host of NPR’s All Things Considered on KBIA, and was Music Director for a number of years. Starting in 2010, Kyle became KBIA’s Program Director, overseeing on-air programming and operations while training and supervising the station’s on-air staff. During that period, KBIA regularly ranked among the top stations in the Columbia market, and among the most listened to stations in the country. He was instrumental in the launch of KBIA’s sister station, Classical 90.5 FM in 2015, and helped to build it into a strong community resource for classical music. Kyle has also worked as an instructor in the MU School of Journalism, training the next generation of journalists and strategic communicators. In his spare time, he enjoys playing competitive pinball, reading comic books and Joan Didion, watching the Kansas City Chiefs, and listening to Bruce Springsteen and the legendary E Street Band.
See stories by Kyle Felling
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