Myrica esculenta Buch.-ham. ex D.Don

Small tree, 3-15 m high; trunk crooked, irregu-larly branched; bark grey. Branchlets usually mod-erately densely clothed with patent, longish, less often short, thin hairs, mixed with scattered sessile yellow glands, sometimes hairless and more or less densely glandular only. Leaves lanceolate, lanceo-late-obovate or oblong-obovate, from a gradually narrowed, acute, narrowly rounded or (young trees) narrowly cordate base, acuminate or not, with an acute or rather acute, less often obtuse apex, on adult trees entire and firmly coriaceous, on the upper surface with or without minute yellow glands, beneath bearing many caducous minute glands which leave a shallow pit on falling off, ciliate or not, either thinly pubescent on both surfaces (especially on larger nerves), or only beneath, or quite glabrous, shining darkgreen above, on adult trees 2½-15 cm by 1-4½ cm (for very young trees see beneath); midrib strongly prominent beneath; lateral nerves on either side of midrib 5-15, obliquely erect or ascending from a patent base, inarching near the margin or not, prominent beneath. Petiole firm, pubescent or glabrous, 2-10 mm. Flowers (♂)(♀). ♂: inflorescences solitary in the leaf-axils, erecto-patent to widely patent, 3-8 cm long (short peduncle included). Rachis thin, usually rather densely clothed with more or less patent, longish or short white hairs, between the hairs with scattered yellow glands, sometimes hairless and glandular only, bearing several rather remote, at last widely patent catkins; catkins singly in the axil of a triangular, 1½-2½ mm long, hairy bract, sessile or shortly stalked, ½-1½ cm long, dense or rather lax; their rachis patently hairy. Floral bracts ovate-triangular, patently hairy on the back, ± 1 ¼ mm long. Stamens 4, rarely 3, very rarely 2; filaments connate at the base into a column ¼-½ mm long; anthers distinctly or hardly stalked, vertical, contiguous, thick, red, beset with numer-ous very short, comparatively thick hairs, ± ¾ mm long; no rudimentary ovary. ♀: Inflorescences solitary in the leaf-axils, erect or more or less widely patent, 1½-5 cm long, simple. Rachis thin, mostly clothed with patent longish or short hairs, mixed with scattered yellow glands, sometimes hairless. Catkins in the lower part remote, higher up often crowded, placed singly in the axil of an ovate-triangular, hairy, 1¼-3 mm long bract, ses-sile, 1½-2 mm long, consisting of 10 or fewer densely crowded flowers. Floral bracts ovate-triangular, acute, hairy and glandular, ± 1½ mm long. Bracteoles very minute, ovate-triangular, pubescent, ±⅓ mmlong. Ovary hairy when young. Styles at last spreading or reflexed, filiform-subulate, hairy at the base, ± 2½ mm long. Berries red, 1-3 per catkin, ellipsoid, beset with broadly rounded tubercles, red, ± 1 cm long.

A subtropical plant. In Nepal it grows between 1300-2100 m altitude. It grows in open places. In China it grows in open forests on mountain slopes between 300-2500 m altitude in S China. It grows in tropical evergreen forest. It is light demanding and slightly drought tolerant. It occurs between 100-1,500 m altitude in Vietnam. It grows in subtropical broad-leaved evergreen forest.

The ripe fruit are eaten raw. They are also used for a drink and desserts. It is also used in distilling. They are also pickled.

Plants are grown from seed.