Outstanding Qualities

Morella californica (previously Myrica californica) is also called California wax myrtle or California bayberry. It is an easy-to-grow medium-sized shrub that can be used in formal or naturalistic gardens. It can be sheared to produce hedges or other geometric shapes, or it can be left to grow into large, loose mounds, providing a background to other shrubs and perennials. Its small, evergreen, leaves are aromatic when crushed. Clusters of black fruit are held on short spurs in late summer, persisting into midwinter and providing food for wild birds. For a naturalistic buffer plant it with Calocedrus decurrens, Oxydendrum arboreum and Pinus parviflora 'Glauca'.