What is "myrica"

Myrica \My*ri"ca\, prop. n. [L., fr. Gr. ? tamarisk.] (Bot.) A widely dispersed genus of shrubs and trees, usually with aromatic foliage. It includes the bayberry or wax myrtle, the sweet gale, and the North American sweet fern, so called.

n. (context botany English) Any of the genus ''Myrica'' of shrubs and trees.

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 Australia. 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.

Common names include bayberry, bay-rum tree, candleberry, sweet gale, and wax-myrtle. The generic name was derived from the Greek word μυρικη (myrike), meaning "fragrance."