# Odorless Bayberry (Morella inodora) > An evergreen bayberry of Gulf Coast swamps and bayheads whose leathery leaves, unlike those of other bayberries, have no scent when crushed. Also called odorless wax myrtle, scentless bayberry, waxtree, Myrica inodora. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/odorless-bayberry/ ![Odorless bayberry (Morella inodora) drawing of a leafy branch with catkins and round fruit](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/odorless-bayberry-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Charles Edward Faxon, Public domain ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASilva_of_North_America._Volume_IX%2C_Cupulifer%C3%A6_-_salicac%C3%A6%2C_The_-_DPLA_-_0b70c9c1e4dd9f8ed8c108153c2fa945_%28page_117%29.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 10 to 20 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 7 to 10 - Grows wild in: Stream banks, swamps and wet flats - Native range: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Wet, Average - Growth rate: Medium - Traits: Evergreen, Wildlife value, Tolerates wet soil, Nitrogen fixing, Hedge or screen - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Odorless bayberry is an evergreen wax myrtle of Gulf Coast swamps and bayheads, from southern Georgia and northern Florida to southeastern Louisiana. Unlike other bayberries, its leathery leaves have no scent when crushed. Early settlers gathered its waxy fruit for candles, though less than that of other bayberries. Georgia lists it as threatened, and it is imperiled in Louisiana. Grow it as an evergreen screen along the edge of a swamp or pond. ## Size, growth and what to expect No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a medium grower, like our northern bayberry, about a foot and a half a year. It makes an evergreen shrub 10 to 20 feet tall, and a few reach 23 feet. Its thick, leathery leaves run 1.5 to 4 inches long, dark green and shiny above. Unlike those of other bayberries, they have no scent when crushed. Tiny golden-brown flowers open from January to April, packed into rounded clusters. On female plants, dark, warty fruits about a quarter inch across ripen in summer and fall, with white wax between the bumps. Each sits on a distinct stalk, where wax myrtle crowds its fruit tight along the stems. It grows wild only on the Gulf Coastal Plain, from southern Georgia and northern Florida west to southeastern Louisiana. Its home is bayheads, titi swamps, bogs, pond margins, stream banks and wet pinelands. Its roots carry bacteria that fix nitrogen, so it grows in poor, wet soils. Fire suppression, drainage, feral hogs and land clearing threaten it. ## How to grow Odorless Bayberry Odorless bayberry grows in full sun or part shade, in a wet or moist, acid soil of sand or muck. It takes ground that stays wet, but not salt water or salt spray. Plant it 6 feet from a wall and set plants 8 feet apart for a screen. Keep it 15 feet from overhead wires, since a few reach 23 feet. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in early spring or early fall, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Bayberry seed will not sprout through its wax, so rub the wax off on a screen or soak it off in warm water. Sow cleaned seed outdoors in late fall under mulch, and seedlings come up in spring. For a spring sowing, keep it damp in the refrigerator for 90 days first. Water weekly through the first two summers unless the ground stays wet. It sprouts back strongly after a fire. It needs little pruning. Most plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female. The wind carries the pollen, so a male must grow nearby. Birds eat the waxy fruit and spread the seed. ## Sources - [NatureServe Explorer: Morella inodora, Odorless Bayberry](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.128753/Morella_inodora) - [Flora of North America, Vol. 3 (1997), Myrica inodora, Bornstein](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500793) - [Flora of North America, Vol. 3 (1997), Myrica, the genus](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=121458) - [Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Biodiversity Portal: Morella inodora, Odorless Bayberry, Chafin 2008, updated 2020](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=16011) - [Florida Native Plant Society: Morella inodora, odorless wax myrtle](https://www.fnps.org/plant/morella-inodora) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Morella inodora, Scentless Bayberry](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MOIN) - [Elias, T. S. (1971), The genera of Myricaceae in the southeastern United States, Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 52](https://archive.org/download/biostor-61855/biostor-61855_djvu.txt) - [Wilbur, R. L. (1994), The Myricaceae of the United States and Canada: genera, subgenera, and series, Sida 16: 93-107](https://archive.org/download/biostor-158852/biostor-158852_djvu.txt) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Myrica and Morella chapter, Griffin and Blazich](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/m/at_download/file) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (1974), Myrica chapter, Krochmal](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Myrica.pdf) - [Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries: Rare Plants Tracking List, 2022](https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/assets/Conservation/Protecting_Wildlife_Diversity/Files/rare_plants_tracking_list_2022.pdf) - [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Morella inodora, MOIN](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/MOIN) - [GBIF occurrence search, preserved specimens of Morella inodora in the United States](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=3168992&country=US&basis_of_record=PRESERVED_SPECIMEN) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md) - [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for birds: caterpillars, fruit, mast, nests and winter cover, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Odorless Bayberry, add ?species=odorless-bayberry with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=odorless-bayberry&zone=7&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Odorless Bayberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=odorless-bayberry): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=odorless-bayberry - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Odorless Bayberry is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=odorless-bayberry - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Odorless Bayberry needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=odorless-bayberry:3 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Odorless Bayberry flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.