Family:
Myricaceae Rich. ex Kunth

Myrica L.

This genus is accepted, and its native range is Cosmopolitan.

[FTEA]

Myricaceae, R.M. Polhill, B.A., Ph.d., F.L.S. and B. Verdcourt, B.Sc., Ph.D.. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2000

Morphology General Habit
Mostly aromatic dioecious, monoecious or polygamous evergreen or deciduous shrubs or small trees with terminal buds
Morphology Leaves
Leaves entire or coarsely toothed; stipules absent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Perianth
Perianth absent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Male: bracts present; stamens 1–22; filaments simple or branched, arising at different levels from the staminal column Female: bracts subtending several ovaries or solitary, simple and 1-flowered; ovary glabrous or pilose and ± covered with persistent ± globose wax-secreting papillae
sex Male
Male: bracts present; stamens 1–22; filaments simple or branched, arising at different levels from the staminal column
sex Female
Female: bracts subtending several ovaries or solitary, simple and 1-flowered; ovary glabrous or pilose and ± covered with persistent ± globose wax-secreting papillae
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracteoles
Bracteoles present in both sexes often forming a small cup in female, persistent and not enlarging
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit drupaceous, either with imbricate succulent papillae or not succulent and covered with wax.

[FZ]

Flora Zambesiaca. Vol. 9, Part 3. Polygonaceae-Myriaceae. Pope GV, Polhill RM, Martins ES. 2006.

Morphology Reproductive morphology
Female: bracts subtending several ovaries or solitary, simple and 1-flowered; bracteoles present, often forming a small cup around the base of the ovary, persistent and not enlarging; ovary glabrous or pilose and ± covered with persistent ± globose wax-secreting papillae Male: bracts present; bracteoles, if present, inconspicuous; stamens 2–22; filaments simple or branched, arising at different levels from the staminal column; occasionally with vestigial female parts.
Note
We are not denying the great difficulties in separating taxa, but are not convinced that the sinking of nearly all the previously recognized taxa into M. humilis is the way out of the problem. In any case the problem extends beyond Africa as anyone trying to distinguish the American M. cerifera (L.) Small from M. salicifolia will see. Ordinary methods are hardly adequate for dealing with such genera and until other methods indicate that White's results are justified we follow the previously accepted classification. White (1993) has reduced the 26 species formerly recognized from Africa to 6, but this appears to us wrong. Killick, who revised the South African species (Bothalia 10: 5–17 (1969)), agrees with us. The species are difficult, but oversimplification leads to an almost valueless classification ignoring ecology and geography. We are recognising 6 species from the Flora Zambesiaca area. About 45 species.
Distribution
Wilbur divides the genus into subgen. Morella “containing fewer than 10 species of eastern Asia, the Philippines and Malesia” and subgen. Cerothamnus (Tidestr.) Wilbur; the latter is divided into two series, Cerothamnus (Tidestr.) Wilbur containing Americ
Morphology General Habit
Mostly aromatic dioecious, monoecious or polygamous evergreen or deciduous shrubs or small trees with terminal buds. Mostly aromatic dioecious, monoecious or polygamous evergreen or deciduous shrubs or small trees with terminal buds
Morphology Leaves
Leaves entire or coarsely toothed; stipules absent. Leaves entire or coarsely toothed; stipules absent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Perianth
Perianth absent. Perianth absent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Male: bracts present; bracteoles, if present, inconspicuous; stamens 2–22; filaments simple or branched, arising at different levels from the staminal column; occasionally with vestigial female parts. Female: bracts subtending several ovaries or solitary, simple and 1-flowered; bracteoles present, often forming a small cup around the base of the ovary, persistent and not enlarging; ovary glabrous or pilose and ± covered with persistent ± globose wax-secreting papillae.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit drupaceous, either with imbricate succulent papillae or not succulent and covered with wax. Fruit drupaceous, either with imbricate succulent papillae or not succulent and covered with wax.

Native to:

Alabama, Alaska, Alberta, Angola, Argentina Northwest, Arkansas, Assam, Azores, Bahamas, Baltic States, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Borneo, Botswana, British Columbia, Burundi, California, Cameroon, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, Cayman Is., Chile North, China South-Central, China Southeast, Colombia, Comoros, Connecticut, Costa Rica, Cuba, Delaware, Denmark, District of Columbia, Dominican Republic, East Himalaya, Ecuador, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Florida, France, Free State, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Gulf of Guinea Is., Hainan, Haiti, Honduras, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Jawa, Kamchatka, Kenya, Khabarovsk, Korea, Kuril Is., KwaZulu-Natal, Labrador, Leeward Is., Lesotho, Lesser Sunda Is., Louisiana, Madagascar, Madeira, Magadan, Maine, Malawi, Malaya, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, Netherlands, New Brunswick, New Guinea, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Newfoundland, Nicaragua, North Carolina, North European Russi, Northern Provinces, Northwest European R, Northwest Territorie, Norway, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Panamá, Pennsylvania, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Primorye, Prince Edward I., Puerto Rico, Québec, Rhode I., Rwanda, Sakhalin, Saskatchewan, Saudi Arabia, South Carolina, Southwest Caribbean, Spain, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Swaziland, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, Texas, Thailand, Turks-Caicos Is., Uganda, Venezuela, Vermont, Vietnam, Virginia, Washington, Windward Is., Wisconsin, Yemen, Yukon, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Introduced into:

Hawaii, Illinois, Marianas, Ogasawara-shoto

Myrica L. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Moss, C.E. [6828], South Africa K000243562 Unknown type material Yes

First published in Sp. Pl.: 1024 (1753)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6 Scientific Data 8: 215.

Literature

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • —F.T.A. 6, 2: 307.

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    Flora Zambesiaca
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0