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Britton and Brown. See
credits below.** |
| Botanical name: |
Morella cerifera (L.) Small |
| Common
name: |
wax myrtle
|
| Synonomy: |
| Cerothamnus ceriferus (L.) Small |
| Cerothamnus pumilus (Michx.) Small |
| Morella cerifera (L.) Small var. pumila (Michx.) Kartesz, ined. |
| Myrica cerifera L. |
| Myrica cerifera L. var. pumila Michx. |
| Myrica pusilla Raf. |
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| Group: |
Dicot
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| Family: |
Myricaceae |
| Growth
Type: |
Tree; Subshrub; Shrub
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| Duration: |
Perennial
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| Origin: | Native |
| Plant
height: |
6-12', multi-trunked
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| Foliage: |
alternately
arranged and clustered at the ends of the branches. They may be bluntly
toothed or not. The upper and lower surfaces are covered with yellow
circular glands that are visible under a hand-lens.
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| Flower: |
very small, greenish-white |
| Flowering/fruiting time |
early May to early June, before or with the leaves; fruits early August into September, persisting over winter. |
| Habitat: |
moist or wet ground of marshes, sand flats and pinelands, maritime forests, adjacent to salt marshes. |
| Range
in
New Jersey: |
Rare on coast strip and Delaware Bay Shore but locally common in Cape May county. |
| Heritage ranking if any: |
n/a |
| Distribution |
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| Misc.: |
Morella cerifera reaches its northernmost limit in New Jersey. M. cerifera hybridizes with M. pensylvanica.
There are both female and male plants.
Niemcewicz,
in "Under Their Vine and Fig Tree" (Travels through America, 1797-1799,
1805), wrote: "Its shores are completely sandy; in the middle it is
covered with a thick and impassable wood of cedars, laurel, various
thorns and laurel bushes, Myrtic [Myrica] Cerifera,
commonly called Bayberry. This bush carries light green berries which
are full of fat. The inhabitants boil these berries and, by adding a
little tallow to the wax, make excellent candles. The color of these
candles is green; the fragrance of the smoke is most pleasant, but the
light is not as clear and strong as that of wax candle." (219-220)
(Note: M. penslvanica was also used to make candles, and more commonly so.)
The
root bark and leaves were used medicinally (Hough, 240). Crushed leaves
were rubbed on the skin to repel mosquitos and boughs were placed under
beds to repel fleas. The fruits are a food source for birds, including
migratory warblers. In fact, the Myrtle Warbler was named for its
wintering association with M. cerifera.
It is semi-evergreen to evergreen in warmer areas of the country.
cerifera, wax-bearing (Latin).
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Sources
**USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 1: 585.
Hough, Mary. New Jersey Wild Plants. Harmony Press. Harmony, NJ. 1983.
Niemcewicz, Julian Ursyn. Under Their Vine and Fig Tree: Travels through America in 1797-1799, 1805. Trans. and edited by Metchie J.E. Budka. 1965. The New Jersey Historical Society.
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