This species has an odor very similar to that of the sweet-gale, and
from its fragrance and its waxy fruit it has obtained the name of the
Candleberry Myrtle. It delights in dry pastures upon the hills and
uplands, to which it is a humble, but not insignificant ornament. This
plant can make no very evident pretensions to beauty, having rough and
crooked branches, and imperfect flowers and fruit, without any elegance
of form. But its foliage is so regular, so dense, and of so bright a
verdure, that it never fails to attract attention. Indeed, it displays
some of the finest masses of pure green leafage to be seen among our
upland shrubbery. But seldom does any tint except the green of summer
appear in the Bayberry. It takes no part in the grand pageant of autumn.
The fruit of this plant is a subject of great curiosity. It consists of
little greenish-gray berries, stemless, and completely covering the
branches like warts, thickly coated with a waxy substance, which is
soluble in boiling water. This substance, when collected, makes a very
hard wax of a greenish color.