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| Myrica pensylvanica | ||||||||||||||
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| Myrica pensylvanica Mirbel |
The Northern Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) is a species of Myrica native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Ohio, and south to North Carolina.
It is a deciduous shrub growing to 2-4.5 m tall. The leaves are 2.5-7 cm long and 1.5-2.7 cm broad, broadest near the leaf apex, serrated, and sticky with a spicy scent when crushed. The flowers are catkins 3-18 mm long, in range of colors from green to red. The fruit is a wrinkled berry 3-5.5 mm diameter, with a pale blue-purple waxy coating; they are an important food for Yellow-rumped Warblers.
This species has root nodules containing nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, allowing it to grow in relatively poor soils.
Uses
The leaves can be made into Bayberry wax candles or seal wax seals, along with soaps that bear the distinctive scent of the bayberry wax-myrtlecitation needed.
References
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