Pacific Wax myrtle
Morella californica
Summary 7
Myrica californica (California bayberry, California wax myrtle or Pacific wax myrtle; syn. Gale californica (Cham. & Schltdl.) Greene, Morella californica (Cham. & Schltdl.) Wilbur) is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to the Pacific Ocean coast of North America from Vancouver Island south to California as far south as the Long Beach area.
Description 8
General: Pacific waxmyrtle (Myrica californica) is a large evergreen shrub or small tree, ten to thirty-five feet high. The leaves are alternate, simple, five to ten centimeters long with resin dots, and are slightly sticky and fragrant when crushed. The fruit are purplish, single seeded berries, coated with a white wax, ripening in the early autumn and usually falling during the winter. The bark is smooth, compact, dark gray or light brown on the surface and dark red-brown internally (Sargent 1961).
Distribution: Pacific waxmyrtle occurs in canyons and hill slopes of the coastal region from the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles County northward to Del Norte County, and north to Washington (McMinn 1939). For current distribution, please consult the Plant profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.
Sources and Credits
- (c) David Hofmann, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/23326361@N04/3342327153
- (c) Zoya Akulova, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/1214/2936.jpeg
- (c) Keir Morse, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/1208/1002.jpeg
- (c) Keir Morse, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/1208/1003.jpeg
- (c) Charles Webber, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0024_3291/2018/0084.jpeg
- (c) J. E.(Jed) and Bonnie McClellan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/1351_3151/4005/0091.jpeg
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morella_californica
- Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/1388254
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- CalFlora
- Calflora
- CalPhotos
- eFloras.org
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- Jepson eFlora
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- OregonFlora.org
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- VASCAN by Canadensys
- World Flora Online
