Pacific Wax Myrtle Flowers

Inconspicuous fragrant flowers borne in catkins appear in spring.

Pacific wax myrtle flowers. Fruit are wide purple to black colored berries that are covered with a white waxy bloom. It has smooth gray bark and upright stems that are densely clothed with lustrous 4 inch long toothed edge leaves which emerge a bright apple green is spring and darken as they mature. This species has root nodules containing nitrogen fixing microorganisms allowing it to grow in relatively poor soils. Birds love the tiny purplish fruits.

Flowers bloom in spring small and in male staminate and female pistillate catkin like clusters may also be bisexual. Male and female clusters may be on the same or separate plants often yellow green and inconspicuous but may be reddish under good sun exposure. The pacific wax myrtle is our best native shrub for screening. Myrica m ɪ ˈ r aɪ k ə is a genus of about 35 50 species of small trees and shrubs in the family myricaceae order fagales the genus has a wide distribution including africa asia europe north america and south america and missing only from australia some botanists split the genus into two genera on the basis of the catkin and fruit structure restricting myrica to a few species.

Wax myrtle lily of the valley shrub heavenly bamboo rhododendron sweet box evergreen huckleberry burkwood viburnum and david viburnum. The fruit is a wrinkled purple berry 4 6 5 mm diameter with a waxy coating hence the common name wax myrtle. The flowers are tiny but the fruit is attractive in clusters of dark purple bumpy berries. It is native to the coast and coastal valleys from the santa monica mountains to vancouver island and is without a doubt one of the most versatile best looking and truly adaptable large natives for sonoma county gardens.

Design ideasa top choice for windswept coastal gardens use this elegant shrub to block harsh winds or an unsightly view. Each berry only has one seed within. The foliage emits a bayberry candle fragrance when crushed. Myrica californica pacific wax myrtle this california native is a vigorous multi branched evergreen shrub reaching up to about 30 feet tall and 20 feet wide easily kept smaller.

Plant in large groupings to create a tall screen or a formal manicured hedge. Deciduous shrubs are barberry blue beard corokia silverberry forsythia kerria beauty bush. Berries are noted in september october. Blooms spring to summer followed by small purple black fruit clusters.

Several can be trimmed into a hedge or it can be mixed with other evergreens to create an informal screen. They are small yellow and inconspicuous. Myrica californica pacific wax myrtle myrica californica most commonly called pacific wax myrtle is an evergreen shrub that grows from 10 30 ft.