2025 Plant of the Year, Special Recognition

Hamamelis vernalis attracts pollinators and benefits a variety of insects, butterflies, and moths. It provides food for nesting birds. Deer eat the shoots, leaves and sometimes bark. Beavers, squirrels, and rabbits feed on this too. It also feeds the wild turkey and grouse who eat the seeds and flowers of the Ozark Witch Hazel Plant.

Ozark witch hazel occurs naturally in the Ozark highlands in the southern and east-central United States. It also grows and thrives in Ozark stream edges and natural communities with wood like conditions. This gravel wash community is an important place for many animals to have access to water, such as raccoons, toads, snakes and insects. Ozark witch hazel is recommended to be used to prevent land erosion. It is now often planted in rain gardens and in cityscapes.

The Missouri Botanical Garden selected Ozark witch hazel as the Plant of Merit in 2003. Plants of Merit are selected for their outstanding quality and dependable performance for the lower Midwest. They grow consistently well in Missouri, central and Southern Illinois, and the Kansas City Metropolitan area. 

This fascinating plant is an exotic looking shrub and low maintenance. It is a superior winter flowering plant which has a deep burst of golden yellow and fall leaf color which is notably outstanding. Each flower has four, narrow ribbon-like, curled and crinkled petals resembling a “bear claw” shape that curls up in cold weather. Usually red color at its base and transitioning to copper-orange at the tip. Rarely blooming in December, it flowers from January to April. Medicinally, witch hazel extract is used in shaving lotions, in ointments, and for treating bruises, sprains, skin irritations, and much more.