OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Morella cerifera   FAMILY Myricaceae   Go to FSUS key



INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Morella cerifera   FAMILY Myricaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Morella cerifera

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America

Myrica cerifera

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 052-03-001a:

Myrica cerifera var. cerifera   FAMILY Myricaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Cerothamnus ceriferus

 

COMMON NAME:
Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_196

        

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_moce2_002_lvd

        

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_myce_001_lvd

        

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

JK Marlow    jkm0502f_08

February    Horry County    SC

Myrtle Beach State Park

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

JK Marlow    s050227_i

February    Horry County    SC

Myrtle Beach State Park

Leaf blades oblanceolate; margins irregularly serrate near tip, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

JK Marlow    s050227_j

February    Horry County    SC

Myrtle Beach State Park

Leaves distinctly punctate on both surfaces, aromatic when crushed, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

JK Marlow    jkm0303m_24

March    Pickens County    SC

SC Botanical Garden

A taxonomically difficult group with intergrading species, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

Alan S. Weakley    asw_141721875287964

April    Orange County    NC

North Carolina Botanical Garden

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

JK Marlow    jkm0304h_06

April    Beaufort County    SC

Hunting Island State Park

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

Keith Bradley    kab_morella_cerifera_4447

April    Sumter County    SC

Mill Creek Park

Male flowers in sessile, axillary, dense cylindrical catkins, 6-10mm x 4-6mm, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

JK Marlow    jkm090516_083

May    Charleston County    SC

Bark whitish to gray, thin, smooth, with conspicous horizontal lenticels, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

JK Marlow    jkm0309r_13

September    Georgetown County    SC

Huntington Beach State Park

Myrtle Beach, SC, gets its name from this plant, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

Paul Thompson    pstmyrica_cerifera

September?        

Leaf shape is oblanceolate; margins are serrate towards the tip. — Clemson Extension

image of Morella cerifera, Common Wax-myrtle, Southern Bayberry

Alan S. Weakley    asw_477955987824338

December    Georgetown County    SC

The berries are covered with wax that was/is used to make fragrant candles, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Morella cerifera   FAMILY Myricaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Morella cerifera   FAMILY Myricaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Morella cerifera

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America
Myrica cerifera

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 052-03-001a:
Myrica cerifera var. cerifera   FAMILY Myricaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Cerothamnus ceriferus

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

961

Shrub; Tree
Perennial
Dioecious

Habitat: Interdune swales (where often dominant), pocosins, brackish marshes, other wet to moist habitats, now also widely planted (including in the Piedmont) as an ornamental or landscaping shrub and persistent or naturalizing in suburban woodlands, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Coastal Plain of the Carolinas & Georgia, and the GA Piedmont

Common in Coastal Plain (rare elsewhere, where mostly introduced)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Evergreen (usually)
Simple
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring
Sepals absent
Petals absent
Superior ovary
Unisexual

Flowers in catkins

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Waxy gray
Drupe-like

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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