Myricaceae

▪ plant family

      the wax myrtle family of dicotyledonous flowering plants, in the beech order (Fagales), found throughout the world, with three genera of trees and shrubs having aromatic leaves. Many of the species bear yellow glandular dots on the surface, from which the characteristic odour of these plants emanates, and have single-seeded fruits often covered with waxy granules, bumps, or layers. The flowers are small, greenish, and inconspicuous and usually are separately male and female on the same or different plants in clusters called catkins. Male flowers have 2 to 16 (but usually 4) stamens, or pollen-producing structures, attached just above two small scalelike bracteoles. The female flowers consist of a one-chambered ovary composed of two carpels (structural segments) that are extended on top into a two-branched style (pollen-receptive organ), the whole associated with two or four bracteoles.

      Useful plants within the family include the sweet gale, or bog myrtle (Myrica gale), a shrub of wet areas with resinous leaves useful in medicines; the wax myrtle, or candleberry (M. cerifera), a tall shrub or small tree growing to about 11 metres (35 feet); and bayberry (M. pennsylvanica), which yields a wax used in candles. The sweet fern (Comptonia peregrina) is a small aromatic shrub of eastern North America, the leaves of which have been used in folk medicines and as a seasoning.

      The largest genus of the order is Myrica, with 50 species. Relationships are near the families Juglandaceae and Rhoipteleaceae.

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