BAYBERRY FAMILY 65 



The genus includes hundreds of species, of which the 

 greater number are found in the western hemisphere from 

 Florida to Chili and Argentina. A few are cultivated as 

 greenhouse plants, and some are eaten as salads. 



Five species have been discovered in Florida, but they 

 are plants that are only locally abundant. Of these P. 

 ohtusifolia has smooth, thick, 5-9-nerved leaves, two to 

 four inches long, and densely flowered spikes. P. lepto- 

 stachya is abundant on shell-mounds south of Daytona, 

 where it blooms in winter in thin, greenish spikes, one to 

 four inches long, and in some places covers the ground. 

 The oval or sometimes roundish three-nerved leaves are not 

 thick. 



The fruit of a climbing tropical plant of this family is 

 the source of our common pepper, the unripe fruit yielding 

 black, and the ripe fruit white pepper. 



BAYBERRY FAMILY (Myricaceae) 



Shrubs or trees. Leaves alternate, fragrant. Flowers minute, 

 in small catkins. Fruit a small, waxy-coated drupe. 



Wax Myrtle. Bayberry (Genus Myrica (Morella)) 



Two species of fragrant, evergreen wax myrtles are 

 abundant in Florida. The dwarf M. pumila, usually only 

 one to two feet in height, spreads by woody underground 

 stems in sandy soil. The leathery leaves are narrowed at 

 the base, and are usually broadened upward and toothed 

 toward the apex, but they are variable in form, and are 

 sometimes nearly linear. The young branches are hairy. 



The large wax myrtle, M. cerifera, a very attractive 

 shrub or small tree with pale gray bark, grows chiefly in 

 damp ground near lakes and swamps, but is found also 

 in dry places. It is locally known as sweet bay. The fra- 

 grant, narrow leaves, one to four inches long, are broadened 



