MYRICACEAE 97 



MYRICACEAE. Bayberry Family. 



Includes two or three genera and al:)OUt .")() species, mostly 

 shrubs growing in temperate regions, and of little economic im- 

 portance. 



MYRICA, L. Bayberries or Wax Myrtles. 

 (Map 12) 



Our species are regarded by some authorities as distinct from 

 the typical Myrica of higher latitudes, and the generic names 

 Morclla and Ccrothauiniis have been proposed for them. They are 

 shrubs or small trees, evergreen with us ( but one of them deciduous 

 farther north), with inconspicuous flowers in small clusters on the 

 branches below the leaves in spring, producing small hard wax- 

 coated berries in fall. The wax can be removed by (soft) boiling 

 water, and it was used largely for making candles before the days 

 of petroleum products. Our species are all called "myrtle," when 

 they are given any common name at all, though they are very dif- 

 ferent from the classical myrtle of the Old World. 



Myrica cerifera, L. 



An aromatic shrub or small tree, with leaning or crooked 

 trunk branching low down, dark yellowish green toothed leaves, 

 much reduced in size (and yellower) toward the ends of the 

 twigs. Said by Dr. Mohr to grow a foot in diameter and 30 or 40 

 feet tall near the coast ; but it is usually no higher than a man's 

 head, and only a few inches in diameter. The leaves, and the bark 

 of the root, have astringent properties, and the wax has a limited 

 use in medicine, and is said to have been used for making soap 

 and candles. The plant is occasionally cultivated for ornament, 

 particularly along walks and borders. (A good deal of it was so 

 used on the grounds of the Jamestown Exposition, near Xorfolk, 

 Va., in 190r.) 



Strictly confined to the coastal plain, in moderately rich and 



often damp soils, protected from fire, as in hammocks and on 



bluffs and borders of swamps. 



6A. Along the M. & O. R. R. at several places in Bibb County south- 

 east of Centerville, particularly between Trio and Maud. Grows especially 

 around cuts and gullies in grayish purple clay, where it has a somewhat 

 weedy appearance. 



