FNPS Plant Database

Morella caroliniensis

swamp candleberry, evergreen bayberry
  • Photo by: Shirley Denton, Suncoast Chapter FNPS

Nomenclature

Common Name:

swamp candleberry, evergreen bayberry

Synonym(s):

Myrica heterophylla, Myrica caroliniensis

Genus species:

Morella caroliniensis

Family:

Myricaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

Shrub

Size:

8–20 (12) ft tall by 4–15 ft wide

Life Span:

Long-lived perennial

Flower Color:

Fruit Color:

brown

Phenology:

Deciduous

Noted For:

Aroma/Showy Fruitsagrance, Interesting Foliage

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Screen or hedge plant. Deciduous to semi-evergreen.

Considerations:

Clonal: it usually sends up sprouts from its roots to form thickets. The wood is somewhat brittle, but it will grow back if cut to the ground.

Availability:

Native Nurseries, Seed

Propagation:

Seed.

Light:

Full Sun, Part Sun

Moisture Tolerance:

Always Flooded---------------------------------Extremely Dry

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Usually moist, occasional inundation -to- Not wet but not extremely dry

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand, Organic

Soil pH:

Acidic

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B

USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.

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Vouchered In:

Distribution
Vouchered
Not vouchered
Selected
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No county distribution is available for this plant yet.
Starting…
Map coded by Melissa Fernandez-de Cespedes (Paynes Prairie Chapter)

Ecology

Wildlife:

Birds

It is a host plant for the Red-banded Hairstreak butterfly (NC State Extension Service).

Fuits are eaten by birds, especially yellow-rumped warblers (which are very efficient at digesting the waxy fruits), in the fall and winter (NC State Extension Service).

Native Habitats:

Wet sites. Bogs, swamps, flatwoods depressions, cutthroat seeps

Natural Range in Florida:

Comments:

Ethnobotany:

The waxy coating on fruit can be used to make candles, similar to its northern cousin, the bayberry (M.pensylvanica). Leaves can be used as a substitute for bay leaf for cooking soups and stews.

General Comments:

Foliage fragrant when crushed. Bayberry is an actinorhizal plant: its roots feature nitrogen fixing nodules formed in symbiosis with the nitrogen fixing actinobacteria Frankia. Thus it is tolerant of nitrogen-poor, acidic soils such as wetlands and dunes.(Widipedia). The range is disjunct within Florida.
FNPS Plant Print

Citations:

Wunderlin, R. P, B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. (1999+). Atlas of Florida Plants. ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ). [S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), USF Water Institute.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.

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