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Myrica californica
Also called California Bayberry, Pacific Bayberry, Western Wax Myrtle, Pacific Wax Myrtle, Wax Myrtle
An evergreen shrub or small tree native to the Pacific coast of North America, grown for its fragrant foliage and waxy berries, and useful as a seaside windbreak. It thrives in cool, moist coastal conditions and tolerates poor soils thanks to nitrogen-fixing root nodules.
Myrica californica (California bayberry, California wax myrtle or Pacific wax myrtle) is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to the Pacific coast of North America.
It grows well on cool, moist coastlines and can be planted in lines as a seaside windbreak. The bark and leaves have historically been used on occasion for gastrointestinal ailments. The most active chemical is apparently the glycoside myricinic acid, which is related to saponin. The plant tissues are also high in tannins. The wax may be extracted from the fruit and made into candles and soap; however, this species produces much less wax than other bayberries, and so is rarely used for this purpose.
The species is native to the Pacific coast of North America, from Vancouver Island south to California as far south as the Long Beach area.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Myrica californica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
