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Myrica serrata; photograph Philip Precey, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIF CC0Philip Precey, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIF

Myrica serrata Lam.

Lance-Leaved Wax-Berry; Water Waxberry; Waxberrybush

Myricaceae · Zaïre, Tanzania +14

Cited as Kew's World Checklist cites it, Myrica serrata Lam.: GBIF's backbone key for this page carries the name with another author, Penhallow, 1907.

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Myrica serrata, photograph Erwin Sieben, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIFMyrica serrata, photograph Erwin Sieben, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIFMyrica serrata, photograph Erwin Sieben, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIFMyrica serrata, photograph Adele SL, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFMyrica serrata, photograph Adele SL, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIFMyrica serrata, photograph i_c_riddell, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF 24 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
5.0°C
Record low 2.7 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
25°C
Jan and Feb at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
874mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
18–46DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Rain spread: 70% of the median year's rain takes 8 months, so no short rainy season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

About the genus · Myrica

Myrica is a genus of about 35–50 species of small trees and shrubs in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. The genus has a wide distribution, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America, and missing only from Antarctica and Oceania. Some botanists split the genus into two genera on the basis of the catkin and fruit structure, restricting Myrica to a few species, and treating the others in Morella.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Myrica", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads no short rainy season: 70% of the median year's rain (575 mm of 746 mm) takes 8 months, October to April and August. Mean temperature moves 8.5 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: February and April to October.

Rain

746 mm in the median year at the habitat, 575 mm of it October to April and August. Wettest months (2 at 84 mm), driest month June at 39 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 519 mm to 1,404 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 874 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 746 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 46 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 15, the highest 90th-percentile month 52).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 5.0 °C, the absolute minimum 2.7 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 33.2 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 7.1 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range 2.5 °C to 13.3 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 25.3 °C in February (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 5.0 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 55 to 62% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +100 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Myrica serrata through the yearWarmest months January and February, mean daily high 25 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low 7.1 °C; 746 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.0°10°20°30°40°33.2° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER2.7° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250mm rainDLI 18–46RH 55–62%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 241 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C25 / 21–2925 / 21–2924 / 20–2722 / 19–2420 / 17–2317 / 14–2117 / 14–2118 / 15–2220 / 16–2521 / 17–2622 / 19–2624 / 20–28
Night °C17 / 13–2117 / 13–2115 / 12–2013 / 9–1811 / 6–168 / 3–147 / 3–138 / 4–1410 / 6–1612 / 8–1714 / 10–1815 / 12–20
Rain mm76 / 25–16961 / 24–15777 / 31–14165 / 35–10044 / 13–15739 / 8–19443 / 3–20853 / 7–16745 / 18–11875 / 37–12284 / 32–14884 / 29–157
DLI45 / 37–5241 / 35–4635 / 31–3827 / 25–3121 / 18–2818 / 15–2620 / 17–2724 / 22–3231 / 29–3938 / 32–4243 / 35–4946 / 37–52
RH %62 / 55–6662 / 56–6662 / 55–6560 / 54–6457 / 51–6255 / 50–6055 / 48–6057 / 48–6159 / 47–6260 / 51–6361 / 54–6461 / 55–65
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 241 grid cells holding the 451 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 2479:3977 (-33.975, 18.875). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 2.7 °C, 1st-percentile night 5.0 °C, 99th-percentile day 33.2 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 241 distinct grid cells holding 451 of the 451 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2479:3977 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -34.00_18.750, lapse-corrected +100 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 309 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeZaïre, Tanzania, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, Lesotho, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Swaziland, Northern Provinces, Madagascar · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-30.719, 30.167 · in the densest population, 385 records (58% of those in range)
Kew's description“shrub or tree” · “seasonally dry tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 659 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 451 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 267 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 103 km away. 5 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 208 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 3745060 (Morella serrata (Lam.) Killick): Kew's file holds it as Morella serrata (Lam.) Killick (synonym under Myrica serrata Lam.); 887 records, from GBIF's search API on the day of the build.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 659 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Myrica serrata, photograph 1did not loadMyrica serrata, photograph 2did not loadMyrica serrata, photograph 3did not loadMyrica serrata, photograph 4did not loadMyrica serrata, photograph 5did not loadMyrica serrata, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: Erwin Sieben, CC0, iNaturalist via GBIF (3); Adele SL, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF (2); i_c_riddell, CC BY, iNaturalist via GBIF.

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Hibiscus aethiopicus Hibiscus aethiopicus Cape Hibiscus Photo: CC BY, Martjie Fia FourieLeonotis leonurus Leonotis leonurus Lion's ear Photo: CC BY, Shaun SwanepoelTephrosia capensis Tephrosia capensis Cape Hoarypea Photo: CC BY, Karen EichholzEragrostis capensis Eragrostis capensis Cape Love Grass Photo: CC BY-SA, Tony RebeloMyrsine melanophloeos Myrsine melanophloeos Primulaceae Photo: CC BY, Karen EichholzPodranea ricasoliana Podranea ricasoliana Zimbabwe creeper Photo: CC BY, Vítor Jorge

Other Myrica 14 in the reference

Myrica adenophora Myricaceae Myrica caroliniensis Myrica caroliniensis Myricaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Krzysztof Ziarnek, KenraizMyrica cerifera Myrica cerifera Wax myrtle Photo: CC BY, Lauren McLaurinMyrica cordifolia Myrica cordifolia Myricaceae Photo: CC0, Abu ShawkaMyrica esculenta Myrica esculenta Myricaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, RamwikMyrica faya Myrica faya Myricaceae Photo: Public domain, propiaMyrica gale Myrica gale Bog-myrtle Photo: CC BY, Matt Berger Myrica humilis Myricaceae Myrica parvifolia Myrica parvifolia Myricaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Nicolas Ramirez Myrica pilulifera Myricaceae Myrica pubescens Myrica pubescens Myricaceae Photo: CC BY, Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada Myrica pusilla Myricaceae all 15 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Morella serrata; Fagus aspleniifolia; Myrica aethiopica; Myrica banksiifolia; Myrica bojeriana and 6 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataiNaturalist

The record

Family
Myricaceae
Described by
Lam.
Native to
Zaïre, Tanzania, Angola +13
Wild records
659 in range · 267 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22GBIF's key 11613358 is Myrica serrata Penhallow, 1907; Kew accepts Myrica serrata Lam., and the name is cited as Kew accepts it; its synonyms and common names are read from GBIF's Myrica serrata Lam. (5565378), which GBIF files under Morella serrata (Lam.) Killick (3745060) too
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-2214 read from GBIF's Myrica serrata Lam. (5565378), which GBIF files under Morella serrata (Lam.) Killick (3745060)
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredasked 2026-10-22GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 887 records of GBIF's key 3745060, Morella serrata (Lam.) Killick (Kew's file holds it as Morella serrata (Lam.) Killick (synonym under Myrica serrata Lam.)): GBIF occurrence search API; 11 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (11 at a botanic garden or arboretum; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -34.00_18.750, lapse-corrected +100 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22found by its label; its IPNI identifier 585610-1 is Kew's for Myrica serrata Lam.
Wikipedia wikipedia nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22read from the page's key and its other keys: 155 from GBIF's key 3745060
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 23 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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