Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) is a dense deciduous shrub native to the eastern U.S. These are dioecious shrub in which some plants have male flowers and others female flowers. If a male plant is present for pollination, the female plants will produce graying berries that can be used to make waxy, aromatic candles and soaps.
Can you eat bayberries?
Unless you are allergic to bayberry, it is safe to eat bayberry while you are breastfeeding. Bayberry is very nutritious as it contains vitamin C, folic acid, iron, potassium and dietary fiber. All these vitamins and minerals benefit the growing …
Where do bayberries grow?
Where do Bayberries grow? Bayberry is native to eastern North America and thrives along the rugged coastal areas of Maine. Hardy in USDA plant hardiness zones 3 through 6, this shrub has a loose, open form and clusters of blue to gray berries that are covered with a pale waxy coating. Can you eat Chinese Bayberry?
Can you eat bayberry?
Can you eat bayberry? Fruit - raw or cooked. The fruit is about 4mm in diameter and contains a single large seed. There is very little edible flesh and this is of poor quality. The leaves and fruit are used as a food flavouring in soups etc. Keeping this in consideration, what is bayberry good for?
Where to buy bayberry shrubs?
- Bayberry foundation and hedge shrub is ideal for massing or shrub borders
- Dense evergreen produces aromatic leaves and blue-gray fruit, adding year-round color to your landscape
- Thrives in areas that receive full sun, and tolerates low-quality soils for versatile planting options
Are bay berries edible?
Food: Both the fruity flesh under the skin and the nut itself are edible. The fruit is palatable raw for only a brief time when ripe; if too ripe, the flesh quickly becomes bruised, like an overripe avocado, and the volatile aromatic oils are so strong that the fruit is inedible.
What do Bay berries taste like?
Some describe the flavor of the berry as falling somewhere between a strawberry, a cranberry and a pomegranate, with the texture of an orange and a pit like a cherry. It's sweet but not saccharine, tart without puckering your lips.
What are Bay berries used for?
The root bark and berries are used to make medicine. Despite safety concerns, bayberry is used for colds, diarrhea, nausea, skin wounds, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses. In manufacturing, the wax extract taken from the berries is used in fragrances and candles.
Are bay laurel berries edible?
More info about fruit of laurus nobilis (Mediterranean bay). Apparently the dried fruit can be used as a spice. The fruit appears edible but not particularly appetizing as a food (see medicinal uses).
How do you cook bayberry?
Remove the bulk of leaves and twigs from your foraged bayberries. Add bayberries to the pot and cover with water by 2". Bring to a boil and simmer at a low rolling boil for about 20-30 minutes.
Are bayberry leaves edible?
Edible Uses The leaves and fruit are used as a food flavouring in soups etc[62, 102, 183]. A bay leaf substitute, imparting a delicate aroma and subtle flavour[183].
What are the health benefits of bayberry?
The root bark and berries are used to make medicine. Despite safety concerns, some people take bayberry for head colds, painful and swollen intestines (colitis), diarrhea, and nausea. In large amounts, bayberry is used to cause vomiting. Some people also use it to stimulate the circulatory system.
Where is bayberry found?
eastern North AmericaAmerican bayberry (Myrica cerifera ) is a shrub that grows 3–8 ft (1–2.4 m) high. It is found in eastern North America, in marshes and bogs near sandy Atlantic coastal areas, as well as in similar areas along the shores of the Great Lakes.
What is bayberry tea good for?
Traditional/Ethnobotanical uses In folk medicine, bayberry has been used as a tea for its tonic and stimulant properties, and for treating diarrhea. Among Native Americans, the leaves were used to destroy parasitic worms, the leaves and stems were used for treating fever, and the roots were applied as a poultice.
Can I eat the fruit of a bay tree?
The fruit (black berries) is therefore borne by the female trees. Although the leaves are used in cooking, bay belongs to the poisonous Lauraceae family. Whole bay leaves are used almost exclusively as flavouring agents in food preparation and are normally removed at the end of cooking being brittle and inedible.
What are laurel berries used for?
Researchers have verified the properties of Laurel Berries as antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral, and as an effective treatment for many/most of the aforementioned diseases.
What happens if you accidentally eat a bay leaf?
The biggest danger from eating bay leaves is that you could choke or get one stuck somewhere in your digestive system.
How to Care for Bayberry Shrubs
Grow bayberry shrubs in full sun. They are not at all fussy about the soil in which they grow, as long as it is well-drained. These are bushes that grow in very dry ground (even sand dunes) as well as at the edges of marshy areas. Because they are nitrogen fixers, these plants can thrive in poor soils where other plants would struggle..
Pruning Bayberry Shrubs
You do not need to prune bayberry shrubs often (if at all) since they are slow-growing. In fact, you should take care to avoid any pruning that would ruin the form.
Propagating Bayberry Shrubs
Like many shrubs, bayberry is best propagated by rooting softwood or semi-softwood cuttings:
Varieties of Bayberry
In landscape use, it is usually the native species that is planted. Only one cultivar exists, 'Wildwood'. Developed from four superior strains of the native species, 'Wildwood' is semi-evergreen, growing 6 to 7 feet in height.
Bayberry Shrub vs. Southern Bayberry
M. pensyvania is often known as Northern bayberry to distinguish it from a related plant known as southern bayberry ( Myrica cerifera ). This bush is also native to the eastern seaboard, but generally is found further south. Both are in the wax myrtle family.
Landscape Uses
Bayberry is a versatile shrub that is often planted in groups or masses in woodland gardens, for screens or informal hedges, or on banks for erosion control. With good tolerance for salty soils they do well at seashore properties and along roadsides that are salted in winter. It is often used to stabilize areas with shifting sand dunes.
Overview
Bayberry is a shrub that grows in Texas and the eastern US. The root bark and berries are used to make medicine.
Side Effects
When taken by mouth: Bayberry is considered POSSIBLY UNSAFE when taken by mouth. Bayberry can cause nausea, vomiting, and liver damage.
Special Precautions and Warnings
Pregnancy and breast -feeding: Bayberry is considered POSSIBLY UNSAFE to take by mouth or apply to the skin if you are pregnant or breast-feeding because it contains a chemical that can cause cancer. Bayberry can also cause nausea, vomiting, and liver damage.
Dosing
The appropriate dose of bayberry depends on several factors such as the user's age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for bayberry. Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important.
About Sweet Bay (Bay Laurel)
Native to the Mediterranean, sweet bay grows best in full sun to partial shade, and grows slowly to reach heights of 12 to 40 feet outdoors. In climates too cool for planting outdoors, it flourishes in containers brought indoors once temperatures approach 20 degrees Fahrenheit. In spring, clusters of tiny greenish-yellow blossoms occur.
Uses for Bay Laurel Fruit
Historically, the bay berries have been used medicinally and for fragrances. They're known to be high in lauric acid, a potent antiseptic, and the berries have been used for his purpose traditionally. They were also used internally in some cultures to induce miscarriage as needed.
Berry Necessities
Sweet bay plants are either male or female. Healthy plants of both sexes bloom, but only pollinated females bear fruit. A female plant without a nearby male will never have berries. Flowers, and the berries that potentially follow, appear on old wood. The buds that become springtime blossoms form throughout the growing season.
Culture and Health
Even when male and female sweet bays coexist in close quarters, the ability to flower and fruit properly depends on good health. Stressed, depleted plants falter with blossoms and berries. Sweet bay adapts to all soil types, pH levels from high acid to high alkalinity, and coastal salt sprays. The one thing it doesn't tolerate is waterlogged soil.
California Laurel
Don't confuse sweet bay laurel with the U.S. native known as California laurel (Umbellularia californica) or California bay. Hardy in USDA zones 7 through 9, California laurel also bears fragrant, peppery foliage used as culinary seasoning. Seeds inside California laurel's olivelike berries can be roasted and used as well.
About Northern Bayberry Trees
Some gardeners growing northern bayberry refer to the plants as trees. However, the plant matures to only 10 feet tall by 10 feet wide (3 m. by 3 m.) and definitely falls firmly within the “shrub” category.
How to Grow a Northern Bayberry
If you are wondering how to grow a northern bayberry shrub, you’ll find it is surprisingly easy. And northern bayberry care is also surprisingly simple, since the plants tolerate everything from salt spray in winter to urban pollution.
Geographic Origins and Regions Grown
Native to eastern Asia, the Chinese bayberry is mainly found in China, where it is known as Yang Mei. It is believed that the same is true for the berry Southeast Asia and in Japan, where it is known as Yamamomo.
History of Consumption
The fruit is one and a half to two and a half centimeters in diameter, with a round, knobby surface that is usually a deep, bright red color, but may vary from white to purple. The fruit’s pulp is similar in color, but may be somewhat lighter, sweet, and very tart.
Common Consumption Today
Besides being eaten as is, the fruit is also canned, dried, pickled, juiced, and made into alcoholic beverages like wine. The fruit has a very short shelf life, and often attracts insects.
Nutrition Facts: Vitamins, Minerals and Phytochemical Components
Chinese Bayberries have a good sugar-acid balance and are a source of thiamine, riboflavin, carotene, minerals, dietary fiber, and very high levels of vitamin C. They are also a good source of the same antioxidants (e.g. anthocyanin) that give red wine its health benefits.
Health Benefits: Medicinal Uses Based on Scientific Studies
Ancient Chinese herbal medicine has relied on its excellent digestive powers for years. The stem bark is used as an astringent to treat arsenic poisoning, skin diseases, wounds, and ulcers. The seed is used to treat sweaty feet and the fruit is used to treat cholera, heart ailments, and stomach diseases like ulcers.
Disclaimer
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What is Yangmei Fruit?
Yangmei fruit trees are evergreens that produce purplish round fruit that looks somewhat like a berry, hence their alternate name of Chinese strawberry. The fruit is actually not a berry, however, but a drupe like cherries. That means that there is a single stone seed in the center of the fruit surrounded by juicy pulp.
Additional Chinese Bayberry Info
Chinese bayberry is of significant economic value south of the Yangtze River in China. In Japan, it is the prefectural flower of Kochi and the prefectural tree of Tokushima where it is commonly referenced in ancient Japanese poems.
Growing Chinese Bayberry
It is a small to medium sized tree with smooth gray bark and a rounded habit. The tree is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers bloom on individual trees. When immature, the fruit is green and matures into a dark red to purple-red color.