{"id":1405,"date":"2024-04-30T13:46:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T17:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/?page_id=1405"},"modified":"2026-03-06T14:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:42:22","slug":"wax-myrtle","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/resources\/plantid\/ornamentals\/wax-myrtle\/","title":{"rendered":"Wax Myrtle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"fullwidth-text-block\"><div class=\"container px-0\"><div class=\"row align-items-start\"><div class=\"col-12\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Plant Identification Learning Module:<br>Ornamentals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"intro\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wax Myrtle or Southern Bayberry (<em>Morella cerifera<\/em>, formerly <em>Myrica cerifera<\/em>)<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>A large, rounded evergreen shrub, with dense foliage that forms clumps. Leaves are\u00a0<em>lanceolate<\/em>, arranged\u00a0<em>alternately<\/em>\u00a0on the stem and aromatic. They are thin, often coarsely\u00a0<em>serrated<\/em>\u00a0along the apical\u00a0<em>margins<\/em>\u00a0and have tiny glands (dots) on both sides. The trunk is crooked and covered with grayish-white bark. Flowers are inconspicuous. Fruits are grayish blue, borne in dense clusters. They are coated with wax which was once used to make candles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/images\/plantid\/ornamentals\/wax_tree.jpg\" alt=\"Wax Myrtle tree\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>UF\/IFAS<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/images\/plantid\/ornamentals\/wax_foliage.jpg\" alt=\"Wax Myrtle foliage\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Forest &amp; Kim Starr,&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hear.org\/starr\/plants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hear.org<\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/wax_myrtle_berries400x300.jpg\" alt=\"Gray-blue small berries clustered directly on the stem of a bayberry plant in Arlington National Cemetery\" class=\"wp-image-7963\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/wax_myrtle_berries400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/03\/wax_myrtle_berries400x300-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Fruit on wax myrtle in Arlington National Cemetery.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/images\/plantid\/ornamentals\/wax_bark.jpg\" alt=\"Bark of wax myrtle\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/jamidwyer\/3372560804\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">(cc) 2006, Jami Dwyer<\/a><strong>. This photo is licensed under&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0<\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"parent":987,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"featured_post":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1405","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1405"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7969,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1405\/revisions\/7969"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu\/mastergardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}