Morella pumila (Michx.) Small

Dwarf Bayberry

Shrub

Perennial

Vascular

Dwarf Bayberry is a native evergreen shrub in the Bayberry family (Myricaceae). It is found in the southern-most counties of Alabama. Dwarf Bayberry grows in a wide variety of sandy habitats from moist pine savannas, to dry longleaf pine/scrub oak woods, and along small creeks. It is very similar to Common Wax Myrtle (Morella cerifera (Linnaeus) Small), and is considered by some to be a dwarf fire adapted variety of that species. Dwarf Bayberry forms colonies of stems from a horizontal, stoloniferous rootstock. The stems are 1-3 feet in height and branched above the middle. It has alternate, petiolate, evergreen, oblanceolate leaves that have yellowish glandular dots on the underside. The leaves are about half the size of those of Common Wax Myrtle. They are aromatic and the margins are toothed above the middle. Dwarf Bayberry 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. Dwarf Bayberry is available in the nursery trade. There are several named cultivars which vary in height, leaf size, and color. It is deer resistant and usually pest free. It can be used as a low hedge or ground cover. When plants become leggy, they can be cut back to ground level to encourage dense sprouting. Dwarf Bayberry also 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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