WALLACE W HANSEN

Native Plants of the Northwest

Native Plant Nursery & Gardens

2158 Bower Ct S.E., Salem, Oregon 97317-9216

E-Mail: Wallace W Hansen
Phone: 503-581-2638; Fax: 408-586-1306

Click here for Home Page: www.nwplants.com

For information about Wallace W Hansen Northwest Native Plant Nursery & Gardens: Business Information (Ordering, etc.)

Updated March 13, 2008

Myrica - Wax Myrtle & Sweet Gale

Family: Myricaceae

An outstanding evergreen shrub, Pacific Wax Myrtle is typical of dune landscapes but is perfect for most native gardens. A dense, bushy shrub to 15,' it has clean, glossy, green leaves throughout the year. Small flowers form before the leaves and are followed by purple nutlet fruits that are attractive to birds and from which you can render wax. Hardy between USDA zones 7-10, this shrub is found from Washington to southern California and in isolated places on Vancouver Island, in full sun or shade. It "fixes" nitrogen and therefore tolerates poor soil. Use as a specimen or hedging plant, as it survives high winds.

A deciduous shrub found in moist situations such as swamps and bogs. Sweet Gale is very abundant along the West coast and along coastal Alaska, but it is also found in some parts of Midwestern and Eastern States in USDA zones 1-8. The flowers are catkins with female and male flowers on separate bushes. The leaves emerge after the catkins and are long and leathery with strong serration and aromatic yellow glands. Small nutlets will form and remain on the bush. The branches of this shrub are used to flavor what is called gale beer. This is a small to medium shrub that will grow from 2-6 feet tall and will spread by suckers to form colonies. Myrica gale is important as a wetland plant and for its nitrogen fixing abilities.

Click here to return to my Home Page

Questions about plants, click here:  Regular Email to Wally

Comments or questions about our web site, click here: Webmaster