Common Name: WAX MYRTLE FAMILY Habit: Shrub, small tree, generally aromatic, evergreen or deciduous; generally monoecious or dioecious; roots generally with nitrogen-fixing bacteria; hairs generally both nonglandular, thread-like and glandular, peltate. Leaf: simple, alternate, entire to pinnately lobed, resin-dotted; stipules generally 0. Inflorescence: spike, catkin-like, axillary; staminate, pistillate separate. Flower: generally unisexual, small; perianth generally 0. Staminate Flower: subtended by 1 bract, 0 [1--4] bractlets. Pistillate Flower: subtended by 1 bract, 2 or 4--6[3(8)] bractlets; ovary superior [to +- inferior], ovule 1, style 1, stigmas 2, short. Fruit: generally drupe or nut-like, small, rough or smooth, waxy or not, sometimes winged or bur-like from fused bractlets. Genera In Family: 4 genera, +- 45 species: generally temperate, subtropics fruit of some Morella boiled to make fragrant wax. Note:Myrica as treated in TJM (1993) split into 2 genera based on Wilbur 1994 Sida 16:93--107. Unabridged Note:Comptonia of eastern North America, Canacomyrica of New Caledonia each have 1 sp.; Myrica has 2 species eFlora Treatment Author: Allan J. Bornstein Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Habit: Shrub, small tree. Leaf: +- spicy-scented; blade unlobed, +- serrate, especially in upper 1/2. Staminate Flower: stamens generally 6--12(22).
Morella californica (Cham. & Schltdl.) Wilbur
NATIVE Habit: Plant 2--10 m. Leaf: generally +- narrowly lance-elliptic; tip generally sharply acute. Staminate Flower: stamens 7--16. Fruit: few per pistillate inflorescence, 4--6.5(8) mm diam. Ecology: Coastal dunes and scrub, closed-cone pine, redwood forest; Elevation: < 150 m near coast, < 500+ m inland. Bioregional Distribution: NCo, w KR, NCoRO, CCo, w SnFrB, SCo; Distribution Outside California: to British Columbia. Flowering Time: Mar--Apr Synonyms: Myrica californica Cham. & Schltdl. Jepson eFlora Author: Allan J. Bornstein Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Morella Next taxon: Myrica
Botanical illustration including Morella californica
Citation for this treatment: Allan J. Bornstein 2012, Morella californica, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=80350, accessed on January 21, 2025.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2025, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on January 21, 2025.
Geographic subdivisions for Morella californica:
NCo, w KR, NCoRO, CCo, w SnFrB, SCo
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).
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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
