488 



MYRICACEAE. 

 2. Myrica cerifera L. Wax-myrtle. (Fig. 1160.) 



Myrica cerifera L,. Sp. PI. 1024. 1753. 



A slender dioecious tree, maximum height 

 about 40, trunk diameter 1)4, the bark gray, 

 nearly smooth. Leaves narrow, oblong or ob- 

 lanceolate, mostly acute at the apex, entire or 

 sparingly dentate, narrowed or somewhat cune- 

 ate at the base, fragrant when crushed, short- 

 petioled, dark green above, paler and sometimes 

 pubescent beneath; golden-resinous, 1'-$' long, 

 3 // -g' / wide, unfolding with or before the 

 aments; staminate aments cylindric; pistillate 

 aments short, oblong; ripe drupes separated, 

 globose, bluish-white, waxy, less than \" in di- 

 ameter, tipped with the minute base of the 

 style, long persistent, the bracts and bractlets 

 deciduous. 



In sandy swamps or wet woods, Maryland to Flor- 

 ida and Texas, north to Arkansas. March-April. 

 Leaves mostly persistent through the winter. 

 Wood light, brown ; weight per cubic foot 35 Ibs. 



3. Myrica Carolinensis Mill. Waxberry. Bayberry. (Fig. 1161.) 



Myrica Carolinensis Mill. Gard. Diet. Ed. 8, no. 

 3- 1768. 



A shrub, 2-8 high, with smooth gray bark, 

 the twigs glabrous or often pubescent. Leaves 

 oblanceolate or obovate, glabrous above, often 

 pubescent beneath, resinous, 2 / -4'long, 6 // -i8 // 

 wide, serrate with a few low teeth above the 

 middle, or entire, obtuse or sometimes acute at 

 the apex, narrowed at the base, short-petioled; 

 staminate aments cylindric or oblong, 3 // -9 // 

 long; pistillate aments short, oblong; ripe 

 drupes separated, globose, bluish white, very 

 waxy, i // -i^ // in diameter, long-persistent, the 

 bracts and bractlets deciduous. 



In dry or moist sandy soil, Nova Scotia to Flor- 

 ida and Alabama and on the shores of Lake Erie. 

 Occurs also in bogs in northern New Jersey and 

 Pennsylvania. April-May. The fruit was much 

 used as a source of wax by the early settlers of the 

 eastern United States, and is still utilized along the 

 coast of New England. 



2. COMPTONIA Banks; Gaertn. Fr. & Sem. 2: 58. pi. 90. 1791. 



A low, monoecious or dioecious branching shrub with terete brown branches and nar- 

 row, deeply pinnatifid, stipulate leaves, the young foliage pubescent. Aments expanding 

 with the leaves, the staminate ones and their flowers as in Myrica. Fertile aments globose- 

 ovoid, on monoecious plants appearing below the staminate, several-flowered. Ovary sub- 

 tended by 8 linear-subulate persistent bractlets, which form an involucre to the ovoid-ob- 

 long bony nut. [Name in honor of Rev. Henry Compton, 1632-1713, bishop of Oxford*] 



A monots'pic genus of eastern North America. 



