14 



AMERICAN MEDICINAL BARKS. 



BAYBERRY 



Myrica cerifera L. 



Other common names. — Wax-myrtle, candleberry, candleberry-inyrtle, wax- 

 berry, tallow-bayberry, tallow-shrub, bayberry wax-tree, American vegetable 

 tallow-tree, vegetable-tallow, American vegetable-wax. 



Habitat and range. — The bayberry, which is indigenous, is found in sandy 

 swamps or wet woods from Texas and Florida northward to Arkansas and along 

 the coast of Maryland. In its southern home it is a small evergreen tree, but 

 as it goes farther north it becomes, successively, a tall semideciduous shrub 

 or a dwarfed and deciduous shrub. 



Description of tree.— The greatest height attained by the bayberry is about 40 

 feet, but it is usually only 3 to 12 feet high. It is slender, with a gray, smoothish 

 bark. The leaves, when crushed, have a fragrant odor, and are 1 to 4 inches 



long, narrow, dark green and shining 

 above, lighter colored and dotted with 

 resin cells beneath, and generally with 

 margins entire (fig. 5). 



The flowers appear from about 

 March to May, according to locality, 

 and generally before the leaves are 

 fully expanded. They are borne in 

 aments, or spikelike clusters, the male 

 and female flowers being produced on 

 separate trees. The yellowish aments 

 bearing the staminate or male flowers 

 are cylindrical, while the pistillate or 

 female aments are oblong, shorter than 

 the staminate, and greenish. The 

 fruit, which remains on the tree for 

 several years, consists of clusters of 

 round, bluish white berries having a 

 granulated appearance and covered 

 with a greenish white wax (fig. 5). 

 Each berry contains one seed. The 

 bayberry belongs to the bayberry family (Myricacese). 



Description of bark. — As found in commerce, bayberry bark occurs in curved 

 or quilled pieces, sometimes only about an inch in length and sometimes 6 

 inches or more. The outside is covered with a thin corky layer, which is whit- 

 ish and somewhat fissured. Underneath this layer the dark reddish brown, 

 smooth bark may be seen. The inner surface of the bark is also reddish 

 brown, but marked with faint lines. The fracture is light red and granular. 

 The bark, when powdered, has a pungent, aromatic odor, causing sneezing and 

 coughing, and the taste is bitter, pungent, and acrid. 



Collection, prices, and uses. — Late autumn is the best time to collect this root, 



and after it has been thoroughly cleaned and while still fresh the bark is 



loosened and removed by beating the root with a mallet or similar instrument. 



Bayberry bark brings from 2 to 5 cents a pound. It is used for its tonic 



and astringent properties. 



The wax obtained from the berries is used for making candles. 

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Fig. 5. — Bayberry (Myrica cerifera) 

 and fruit. 



leaves 



