Northern Bayberry vs Northern Black Currant - TreeTime.ca

Northern Bayberry vs Northern Black Currant

Myrica pensylvanica

Ribes hudsonianum

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

CUSTOM GROW

Northern Bayberry
Northern Black Currant

Northern Bayberry makes an excellent hedge or feature shrub. It will retain its leaves in warmer climates but drops them in colder areas. They produce blue-grey berries that have a wax coating on them that can be used to make candles or soaps.

In colder hardiness zones the leaves turn an attractive orange to red colour in the fall, making it a striking addition to your landscape.

Northern Bayberry is native to Nova Scotia and tolerates both drought and wet conditions. It is also a nitrogen fixer that tolerates poor soil conditions.

Northern Black Currant is a native deciduous shrub found across Canada and the northern United States. Dark purple to black berries that ripen in summer and provide food for wildlife and humans. Fragrant yellow-green flowers that attract a wide variety of pollinators.

This shrub is well adapted to moist soils and can even survive periods of flooding. It has an interesting bronze colour in fall.

Northern Bayberry Quick Facts

Northern Black Currant Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 3a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: slow
Growth rate: medium
Life span: long
Life span: medium
Growth form: upright to prostrate, thicket-forming
Spreading: seeds - low, layering - low
Suckering: medium
Maintenance: medium

Toxicity: Warning: The wax from bayberry fruit is considered toxic and may be carcinogenic.

Flowers: small white, in clusters
Bloom time: spring to early summer
Berries: blue-gray
Berries: black, edible
Flavor: bitter
Harvest: mid to late summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: yes
Catkins: no


Native to: ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, PE
Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, YT, NT
Other Names: candlewood, myrique de pennsylvanie, small waxberry, swamp candleberry, tallow bayberry, tallow shrub, tallow tree, tallowshrub
Other Names: hudson bay currant, stinking currant, western black currant, wild black currant