Arkansas Tree Database

Scientific name:

Morella Cerifera

Size:

6'-20' tall

Leaves:

alternate, simple, evergreen, 1.5"-3" long, lance-shaped and coarsely toothed beyond the middle, aromatic when crushed; glossy olive-green

Flowers:

fragrant, inconspicuous

Fruit:

tiny blue-gray fruit (called a drupe), covered with bluish white wax, in small clusters, persistent into winter and eaten by birds

Fall Interest:

broadleaf evergreen

Culture:

sun to light shade; adaptable; suckering habit

Disease/Insect:

Use:

hedge, naturalizing, or specimen with pruning

Cultivars:

some dwarf

Notes:

bark thin and smooth, gray to grayish brown or grayish green; multi-stemmed shrub or small tree often forming colonies; leaves very fragrant and attractive; waxy coating on fruits used for candles by early settlers; native to Arkansas