Bayberry (Wax-Myrtle, Candleberry)
Myrica cerifera
Family: Myricaceae
Perennial, dioecious, evergreen shrub to small tree. Native to
the Southern United States. Bayberry is a traditional indigenous
medicine of North America. The root bark, when dried and pounded
from the roots, is made into a tea or tincture, a valuable stimulating
astringent employed for treating diarrhea and dysentary. This is
also useful as an astringent wash for treating open ulcerations and as
a gargle for sore throat, oral ulcerations or bleeding gums. The
berries are covered with a persistent waxy coating. To extract and
purify the wax, the berries are immersed in water and boiled. The
"myrtle wax" rises to the surface, and upon cooling may be removed, re-melted
and shaped. This wax is slightly harder than beeswax, and makes excellent
candles which emit a pleasant, balsamic odor when burned.
Recipe for Thompson's Composition Powder: Take Bayberry
root bark, 8 ounces; Ginger, 8 ounces; Poplar bark, 4 ounces; White Oak
bark, 4 ounces; Cayenne Pepper, 3 ooounces; Cloves, 1/2 ounce. Powder
and mix intimately. Dissolve a teaspoon in a cup of boiling water,
sweetened. Valuable to remove colds, influenza, fever, relax, pain
in the bowels, cold extremities. Disclaimer: This
recipe is printed herein for historical interest only. This is not
intended to prescribe, nor to mitigate or treat any illness.
Cultivation: Extra care. The seed is naturally coated
with "bayberry wax." This wax inhibits germination and may be removed
by gently rubbing the seeds around on a piece of sandstone, or by rubbing
the seeds between sheets of sandpaper. Seed must be subjected to
a period of cold, moist conditioning before it will sprout. Sow in
outdoor nursery bed or outdoor flats in the fall, winter or very early
spring and expect germination in the spring as the ground warms up.
If sown too late in the spring, germination will not occur until the following
spring. Grow the plants out for a year in the nursery bed or in pots,
and transplant to the landscape when the seedlings are substantial enough
to thrive.
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