# Wax Myrtle (Morella cerifera)

> Wax myrtle, Morella cerifera: a shrub of 6 to 40 feet for zones 7 to 10, how fast it grows, where it grows wild, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/wax-myrtle/

![Wax myrtle twig with narrow gray-green leaves and clusters of small reddish flower catkins](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/wax-myrtle-1000.jpg?v=182a3689 "Wax myrtle in flower at Flamingo in Everglades National Park, Florida, on March 8, 2025. It flowers from March to June, and birds eat its fruit in fall and winter.")
*Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMyrica_cerifera_kz01.jpg))*

Shrub, 6 to 40 feet, zones 7 to 10; full sun, part shade or shade; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow wax myrtle, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Wax Myrtle |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Southern wax myrtle, eastern bayberry |
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 6 to 40 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 10 |
| Zones | 7 to 10 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, honey tree, hedge or screen, nitrogen fixing, street tree, erosion control |
| Flowers | March to June |
| Fruit | Drupes, August to February |
| Pollination | Separate male and female plants. Wax myrtle plants are male or female, and only females bear the waxy berries, so a female needs a male nearby. |
| Planting season | Spring. Its one source speaks of dune plantings on the Florida coast, set in low spots between the dunes. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | The coast, stream banks, sandy barrens, swamps and wet flats |
| Native in | 14 states |

Wax myrtle is native in 14 states: [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX) and [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), where it is naturalized, not native, and as introduced in [Hawaii](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=HI).

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=wax-myrtle): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=wax-myrtle): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=wax-myrtle&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=wax-myrtle): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=wax-myrtle): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=wax-myrtle): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=wax-myrtle): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=wax-myrtle:5): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=wax-myrtle): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its height](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=wax-myrtle): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=wax-myrtle): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Maleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/maleberry/index.html.md) (*Lyonia ligustrina*): shrub, 6 to 12 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares the coast, stream banks, sandy barrens, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Inkberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/inkberry/index.html.md) (*Ilex glabra*): shrub, 5 to 10 feet, zones 4 to 10. Shares the coast, sandy barrens, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Possumhaw Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/possumhaw-viburnum/index.html.md) (*Viburnum nudum*): shrub, 5 to 12 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares the coast, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Swamp Doghobble](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-doghobble/index.html.md) (*Eubotrys racemosa*): shrub, 4 to 10 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares the coast, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Sweet Pepperbush (Summersweet)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-pepperbush/index.html.md) (*Clethra alnifolia*): shrub, 4 to 8 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares the coast, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Northern Bayberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-bayberry/index.html.md) (*Morella pensylvanica*): shrub, 5 to 10 feet, zones 3 to 7. Shares the coast, sandy barrens, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Every companion of wax myrtle in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=wax-myrtle)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, UF/IFAS Extension and the USDA PLANTS Database.