Myrica (Bayberries & Wax Myrtles)

Southern wax myrtle is one of the hardest-working native evergreens of the Southeast, and 'Emperor' is a nursery selection of that adaptable shrub. Fast-growing and densely branched, wax myrtle forms a large evergreen shrub or a small multi-trunked tree, clothed in narrow, olive-green leaves that release a clean, spicy, bayberry scent when crushed. The plant thrives where many shrubs fail, from wet ground to dry sand, in sun or shade, on the coast or inland.

Hardiness

Zones 7–9

Light

Full Sun / Part Shade

Height

10–20 ft.

Spread

8–15 ft.

Plant type

Shrub

Traditional use

digestive health, respiratory support, topical applications

Southern wax myrtle, long known as Myrica cerifera and now often placed in the genus Morella, is one of the most useful evergreens of the Southeast, a fast, aromatic large shrub or small tree of the coastal plain. 'Luray' is a male clone selected in Hampton County, South Carolina, by the plantsman Bob McCartney for a notably dense habit and a compact, semi-dwarf form. Brush the olive-green leaves and a clean, resinous, bay-like scent rises, the same fragrance that gives the tribe the old names wax myrtle and bayberry.

Hardiness

Zones 7–9

Light

Full Sun / Part Shade

Height

6–10 ft.

Spread

6–10 ft.

Bloom

Green

Plant type

Shrub