Myrica faya


Myrica faya is a species of Myrica, native to Macaronesia, and possibly also western coastal mainland Portugal.

Description

It is an evergreen shrub or small tree tall, rarely up to tall. The leaves are usually a dark, glossy green, long and broad, with an entire margin and a bluntly pointed apex. It easily grows in any type of soil.
It is subdioecious, with the male and female flowers produced largely on separate plants, but often with a few flowers of the other sex present. The male flowers have four stamens and are normally produced in clumps close to the branch. The female flowers, typically occurring in similar groups grow slightly further from the branch tips. The fruit is an edible drupe diameter, it is a reddish purple ripening dark purple to black. It is used as an astringent remedy for catarrh.

Distribution

In Macaronesian islands it occurs most abundantly at altitudes of 600–900 m. The population in Continental Portugal may be native or naturalised following early importation from Madeira or the Azores. It is an invasive species in Hawaii, where it displaces native trees such as Metrosideros polymorpha, with profound impacts on nitrogen cycling.