Myrica Northern Bay
Northern Bay Bayberry
Myrica pensylvanica, now often listed botanically as Morella pensylvanica, is a tough native deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub with dense branching, glossy gray-green to dark green aromatic foliage, and a rounded habit. In spring it produces small, inconspicuous yellowish-green catkins, followed on female plants by waxy gray-white berries that can persist into winter. The leaves have a spicy bayberry fragrance when crushed, and the plant is especially valuable for difficult sites because it tolerates poor soil, sand, wind, salt spray, drought, and wet areas.
Type: Deciduous / semi-evergreen native shrub
Mature Size: 6–10 ft. wide × 6–10 ft. tall
USDA Zones: 3a–7b, sometimes listed to 6b or 8b depending on source and site
Form: Dense, rounded, suckering shrub; can form colonies
Light: Full sun to part sun
Soil / Water: Adaptable to sandy, acidic, poor, wet, or average soil; low to medium water once established
Bloom Time / Length: Spring; inconspicuous catkins, followed by gray-white berries on female plants from late summer into winter
Wildlife: Berries feed birds, especially in winter; foliage can provide cover; host plant for some moth species
Features & Landscape Uses:
Excellent for native plantings, hedges, screens, mass plantings, coastal gardens, roadside plantings, slopes, erosion control, rain-garden edges, and wildlife borders. It is especially useful where soil is poor or salty, and it can fix atmospheric nitrogen through a root association, helping it grow in low-fertility sites. A male plant is usually needed nearby for female plants to produce berries.
Care:
Plant in full sun for the densest habit and best berry production. Prune after flowering or lightly in late winter to shape, but avoid heavy pruning if berries are desired because flowers and fruit occur on old growth. Remove suckers if a single, tidy shrub form is preferred, or allow them to spread for a natural colony or hedge.
- Plant type
- Deciduous Shrub, Semi Evergreen
- Height
- 6-10'
- Width
- 6-10'
- Hardiness zones
- 3–7
- Sunlight
- Full Sun, Partial Shade
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Bloom time
- Spring
- Leaf color
- Green
- Fall color
- Green
- Attracts
- Birds
- Soil
- Highly Adaptable
- Landscape use
- Erosion control slopes, Hedge, Mass Planting
- Shape
- Dense, Rounded
- Fruit
- Yes
- Fragrant
- Yes
- Deer resistant
- Yes
- Drought tolerant
- No