MYKICACEAE. 



13 



MYRICA. Bayberry. Wax Myrtle. 

 (Family Myricaceae). 



Shrubs or very small trees, aro- 

 matic: deciduous in the North. 

 a Twigs rounded or angular, slen- 

 n? fc;| der, resinous-dotted when young: 



V*t tV'la pith small, somewhat angled, con- 

 tinuous, green. Buds small, soli- 

 tary, sessile, subglobose or ovoid, 

 with 2 or about 4 exposed scales, 

 the end-bud absent. Leaf-scars al- 

 ternate, half-elliptical or some- 

 what 3-sided, more or less raised: 

 bundle-traces 3: stipule-scars small 

 if present. 



The sweetfern is considered 

 sometimes to represent a distinct 

 genus (Comptonia), of which it 

 is the only representative. A 

 readable account of its ancestry 

 is given by Berry in volume 40 of 

 The American Naturalist. The 

 sweet-gale also has been held 

 apart under the generic name Gale. 



1. With stipule-scars. (Sweetfern). M. asplenifolia. 

 Without stipule-scars. 2. 



2. Buds conical-ovoid or oblong, no end bud. (2). M. Gale. 

 Buds subglobose, obtuse: fruit encrusted with wax. 3. 



3. Buds hairy: fruit moderate (4 mm.). M. calif ornica. 

 Buds glabrate. 4. 



4. Buds small (about 1 mm.), glandular-dotted: lenticels very 



conspicuous: fruit small (3 mm.). (3). M. cerifera. 



Buds larger (1.5 mm.), soon glandless: fruit larger. 5. 



5. Fruit moderate (4 mm.) : leaves veiny. (4). M. carolinensis. 

 Fruit larger (6X8 mm.): leaves smooth. M. inodora. 



