Florida Forest Trees

Waxmyrtle  (Myrica cerifera)

Waxmyrtle is also known as Southern bayberry or candleberry because early American colonists used the fruit's pale blue, waxy covering to make fragrant bayberry candles. This custom is still carried out today by crafts people here and in other countries. The tree's distinctive, fragrant scent comes from volatile oils contained in tiny glands on the leaves. These oils cause waxmyrtle to ignite in a flash in a fire, making wax myrtle a very flammable plant!  

Twigs and leaves

Waxmyrtle is a popular landscape tree and is often grown as a dense hedge for natural screening.

Waxmyrtle is important for wildlife that depends on the persistent fruits for fat and fiber in their winter diet. Birds, such as wild turkey, bob-white quail, various waterfowl, catbirds, thrashers, bluebirds, vireos, and warblers are all frequent visitors to wax myrtle thickets. The berries are the main food for wintering tree swallows in Florida. Wildlife is the primary disperser of waxmyrtle seeds.

Waxmyrtle is found from New Jersey to Florida and west into Texas and Oklahoma at elevations up to 500'.

 Identifying Characteristics
Size/Form:
 Waxmyrtle grows as an evergreen shrub or small tree and can reach 20' to 40' in height. Individual plants may have a narrow, rounded crown but multi-stemmed clumps often display wide, rounded crowns.
Leaves:
 The leaves are simple, alternately arranged, oblanceolate, and 2" to 4" long. When bruised or crushed, they give off an aromatic odor. The leaves are yellow-green with small, dark, dotted glands above and bright orange, dotted glands below. Leaf margins usually have blunt teeth along the upper third of the leaf.
Fruit:
 The fruit is a small, light green, round drupe covered with a bluish-white wax. The fruits are borne in clusters, attached to short spikes along the branches. Fruits mature in autumn and persist until spring.
Bark:
 The gray-green bark is thin, smooth, and often has gray patches.
Habitat:
 Waxmyrtle grows in a variety of habitats but prefers moist sandy soils. It is found in swamps, flatwoods, pinelands, upland hardwood forests, and along fresh or brackish waterways.


Photos
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Fruit
Leaves


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