Morella cerifera (L.) Small

Common Wax Myrtle; Southern Bayberry; Candleberry

Shrub

Perennial

Vascular

Common Wax Myrtle is a native evergreen shrub or small tree in the Bayberry family (Myricaceae). It is found throughout Alabama, but is most common in the southern portion of the state. Common Wax Myrtle grows in a wide variety of moist sandy habitats from the back of dunes, to pine savannas, and along small creeks. It also quickly invades disturbed sites such as clear cuts and old fields. Common Wax Myrtle has alternate evergreen leaves that have glandular dots on the underside. They are aromatic and the margins are toothed above the middle. Common Wax Myrtle is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate plants. The male flowers are produced in cone-like catkins. The female plants produce an abundance of small drupes covered in a waxy bloom. The fruit is an important source of food for many bird species. The drupes were once collected and placed in boiling water to remove the wax to make soap and bayberry candles. Common Wax Myrtle is widely available in the nursery trade. It is often used as a screen around air conditioning units, retention ponds, and other unsightly areas. When plants become leggy, they can be cut back to ground level to encourage dense sprouting. Common Wax Myrtle is also valuable for regeneration of strip mine sites because it produces root nodules associated with a symbiotic actinomycete that are capable of atmospheric nitrogen fixation at a rate higher than that of legumes. --A. Diamond

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Native

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