Northern Bayberry (Morella pensylvanica) is supposedly super cold hardy down to zone 2 or 3 and isn’t picky about soil or growing conditions. Because I was hoping to procure a Northern Bayberry plant for the aroma qualities, I decided to look up the other uses for it (mainly edible).
The plants are dioecious, they fix nitrogen, and the leaves are edible(mostly for tea they supposedly taste citrusy?). The berries are poisonous though, and have a lot of high quality wax that can be used for candles. The poisonous part of the berries is the wax, and mostly the quantity of it.
The northern bayberry has a edible fruit tropical version called red bayberry (Morella rubra)(there is evidently more than just the red one) that supposedly has a flavor of strawberry with a hint of pomegranate.
I’m curious if it’s possible to hybridize them to make something of a desirable edible quality while still being cold enough to be grown here(or if it’s been done/attempted, I haven’t found anything if it has).
Southern wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera) also have edible leaves. It was supposedly used as a spice a long time ago. You can also make wax from the berries (hence the name). Not as cold hardy though, and everyone I’ve seen has tiny tiny berries.
Hardiness is an open question, seems to be something between hardy to zone 10 or hardy to zone 7. A pretty wide range lol
It might just be that different varieties or different rootstocks have different hardiness. Yangmei seems graft compatible with eastern species of Myrica, but I don’t know that anyone has attempted hybridizing them yet.
Unfortunately, yangmei is only recently introduced into the US and is still really, really expensive. Like, $200+ per plant isn’t unusual.
A fair number of people are taking advantage of these wild prices and propagating more, but it’ll be several years at least before prices come down, especially if it turns out these are hardy to zone 7 and most folks in the US can grow them.
It’s a cool plant regardless, so I’m glad it’s at least getting propagated. Crazy to think that a nitrogen fixing shrub with sweet, fleshy berries is a fairly close relative of oaks and walnuts. Another relative, the she-oaks in Australia, are also nitrogen fixers, as are the alders which are also in the same family. It’s a pity oaks aren’t nitrogen fixers themselves.
Ouch, pricey. But a cheaper option might be seeds. Chinese Bayberry — Wanderlust Nursery
How well do they grow in pots? @lmvian if I ever do eventually attempt and make a successful cross I may do that if your still of the same mind by then.
Notoriously difficult to sprout. There is a thread on TFF about how to get them to sprout. Mine haven’t budged at all in ~6 months. Not rotted, not sprouted, just seeds. And I have some scarified and some not.
I have a bunch of seedlings and two grafted trees in pots, and they have done great. No idea about long-term suitability though. There are people on the Yangmei Facebook group that appear to have gotten good crops from potted trees.
They just need to be fresh. I don’t know how much drying out the seeds can take, but seed that is taken straight from the fruit will sprout like weeds the following spring.
In China, Yangmei requires specific growing conditions in order for it to grow well and have good fruits. It’s a regional fruits. Many Chinese have never tasted yangmei or did not know what it is till transportation and internet
got popular. It is sour in general with some sweetness depending on cultivar and growing conditions. It can’t store long, just few days.
Some sweeter than others, depends on cultivar. But it’s not known as a sweet fruit.
I remember back 30,40 years ago, most Yangmei fruits in the market were quite sour, but they did more breeding ever since. Nowadays. Yangwei fruits are bigger in size, appearance is better, and the taste is sweeter
