Some informative notes on Wax Myrtle, an amazing plant!

Some informative notes on Wax Myrtle, an amazing plant!

Wax myrtle leaves serve as natural bug repellent.

Wax myrtle (Morella cerifera or Myrica cerifera) is native to the American southeast where residents traditionally planted it as an insect repellent. The presence of wax myrtle shrubs repel many types of insects and rubbing skin with the crushed leaves keeps mosquitoes away. Wax myrtle often presents as a multi-stemmed shrub, but occasionally grows into a tree up to 20 feet tall. Quick-growing, aromatic, and bird-friendly, the shrub makes a good plant screen. Wax myrtle thrives in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7B through 11.

Its common names include Southern Wax myrtle, Southern Bayberry, Candleberry, Bayberry tree, and Tallow shrub. It sees uses both in the garden and for candlemaking, as well as a medicinal plant.

Herbalism  (From Wikipedia)

Bayberry root bark has a history of use in herbalism. The plant contains several organic compounds, including: triterpenes such as myricadiol, taraxerol, and taraxerone, as well as chemicals such as different flavonoids, tannins, resins, gums, and phenols. Myricadiol has a slight impact on levels of potassium and sodium, while a substance called myricitrin has antibiotic properties.

The Choctaw boiled Bayberry and used the result as a treatment for fevers. In 1722, it was reported that colonists in Louisiana drank a mixture of wax and hot water to treat severedysentery. Bayberry was reported in an account from 1737 as being used to treat convulsions, colic, palsy, and seizures. Starting in the early 19th century, the herbalist Samuel Thomsonrecommended this plant for producing "heat" within the body and as a treatment for infectious diseases and diarrhea. That use of bayberry waned later in the 19th century, in favor of using it for a variety of ailments, including a topical use for bleeding gums. For twenty years starting in 1916, bayberry root bark was listed in the American National Formulary.

Use of Bayberry in herbalism has declined since its peak in popularity in the 19th century. The plant is still used today in the treatment of fever, diarrhea, and a few other ailments. The chemical myricitrin has anti-fever properties. In addition, that chemical, along with the tannins, has anti-diarrheal properties. Myricitrin works as an antibiotic, while the tannins have astringent properties.

In general, either a decoction or a tincture is used. Infusions and a topical paste have also been used.

Pregnant women should not use Bayberry. In addition, tannin action relating to cancer is unclear, with studies indicating both pro and anti-cancer effects. Bayberry, just like any other medicinal plant, should only be used under the supervision of a physician.

Candles

Southern Bayberry's fruits are a traditional source of the wax for those old-fashioned Christmas decorations called bayberry candles. The wax was extracted by boiling the berries, and skimming off the floating hydrocarbons. The fats were then boiled again and then strained. After that the liquid was usable in candle making, whether through dipping or molding. Southern Bayberry is not the only plant usable for making bayberry candles, however. Its close relatives are also usable.

Southern Bayberry and its relatives have largely been supplanted in candlemaking by substitutes made from paraffin. The substitute candles have artificial colors and scents that create candles that look and smell similar to natural ones.

Native Indians used the leaves for seasoning as we would a bay leaf. The berries were used for seasoning as well but sparingly as they are waxy. Grind them and use like pepper. Though used as a seasoning, that was not the wax myrtle’s main value: The berries when boiled yield a wax that is excellent for making candles. Indeed, that is reflected in the tree’s name Myrica cerifera, MEER-ih-kuh ser-IF-er-uh.

Cerifera means “wax bearing going back to the Greek word Keri for the small bees wax candles used in church services. Myrica is Greek myrike (μυρίκη) which was the  Greek name for the  “tamarisk” a tree that is aromatic like the wax myrtle. The aroma of the wax myrtle’s leaves can keep mosquitos away. Rub the leaves on you. Tne natives smoked the leaves for the same reason.

Also called the bayberry, as in Bayberry candle, the tree was used extensively by the Indians for a variety of ways including as a pain killer, a pick-me-up, a diuretic, emetic, febrifuge, tonsil gargle, for headaches, stomach aches, to kill worms  and for dysentery.

And least you think your life has not been touched by the wax myrtle, its leaves are used to improve the foaming of beer. Think of that the next time you enjoy a stein of suds.

Although the berries are strong, they can be eaten fresh off the tree. They can be preserved or even made into a wine. If you don’t have a M. cefera near you don’t despair. There are others in North America and around the world of various uses. In fact some in Asia and Africa had edible leaves. M. gale fruit and leaves have been used to flavor soups, stews, roasted meats, and seafood. They have also been used for tea. When used to help beer foam the brew is often called Gale Beer. M. californica, M. heterophylla, M. pensylvanica, M. pusilla,and M. rubra have also been used like the M. cefera.

Southerns likes the Myrica (MEER-ik-uh) so much they changed Myrica to miracle and call it the Miracle Bush.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Leaves as is for seasoning, berries ground like pepper. Berries boil to collect wax. Most herbal applications use the bark of the root. The leaves have been used to smoke mullet.