The ones across the street, that I am waiting for the state forestry to look at to determine that they are truely native or not, are on the East facing undergrowth at the edge of the woods. A fairly dry area.

I have been told that there are no longer any native hazelnuts in Missouri. I am hoping the experts are wrong.

I guess in the wild I see them mostly on slopes so that would seem to indicate that prefer drainage. Although they can tolerate some shade, more sun would help them perform better. Not all day blistering sun, though.

Thanks. Some of the spots I had in mind are on slopes in partial sun/partial shade.
I hope Missouri still has the natives. I have family and heritage in (what was once rural) MO although I was born and raised in the northeast. My aunt in MO is in her 80's and still grows her own corn. I read somewhere that MO has a wide variety of ecosystems and climates. I gotta get out there again sometime.

If you're hoping for nuts, I think the more sun the better. Around here they form thickets under powerlines on well-drained soils. They also grow in woods, but I usually don't see many nuts on the ones in the woods.

There are plenty of native hazelnuts in Missouri, though perhaps not as many as there used to be. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation:

"American hazelnut, also called hazel or American filbert, is probably native to every county in Missouri."

http://mdc.mo.gov/forest/IandE/MOConservationTreesAndShrubs/americanhazelnut.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Another Missouri hazelnut link

I know that the USDA has hazelnuts listed in all of the counties in Missouri however when there was a meeting concerning a trail and what plants would be in the way the meeting was told that there were no wild hazelnuts known in Missouri. It is one of those published vs information given out.

My husband's uncle in southern Iowa was certain that he could find the plants on the land in his area and came up with none.

Thanks again. All this talk makes me realize I am about 20 years overdue for another trip to MO.

mine are planted in full sun and do just fine.

Carol
Zone 5N