pensylvanica - Northern Bayberry () ------ is an upright semi-evergreen sited in exposed, windswept areas that often spreads by suckers to form colonies. Twigs Northern Bayberry is noted for its ornamental silver -green, changing to tan at the end of the first growing berries in winter, its winter salt spray tolerance, and season, and becoming light gray to silvery on the its adaptability to urban stresses or wet sites. more mature branches -small but prominent winter floral buds are somewhat FEATURES elongated Form Trunk -medium-sized shrub -light gray and multi-trunked, often becoming leggy -maturing at up to 10' tall x 10' with age, but the legginess is later hidden by basal wide, but often pruned or sheared trunk and suckers if they are not pruned away into a smaller size -upright rounded growth habit, USAGE becoming upright spreading with Function age and often forming colonies by -group or mass plantings, embankments, informal suckering hedges, privacy screens, and at poor soil, sandy soil, -medium growth rate wet soil, dry soil, or winter salt spray sites Culture Texture -full sun to partial shade -medium texture in foliage and when bare -extremely adaptable to heavy (clay) soils, light -thick density in foliage and when bare (sandy) soils, poor soils, dry or wet soils, soils of Assets various pH, and winter salt spray -winter salt spray tolerant -propagated by or rooted stem cuttings -very adaptable to poor, dry, compacted, or sandy -Bayberry , with no serious disease or pest soils, or to periodically wet soils problems -showy silver berries in winter (on female or -commonly available in container or B&B form monoecious plants) -if semi-evergreen winter foliage is desired, place in a -excellent for embankments (for erosion control) or wind-sheltered site, but if nearly foliage is naturalized areas (where its suckering habit is not desired (to enhance the showy berries on female or undesirable) monoecious plants), put in a more exposed site to -foliage, stems, and berries are bayberry-scented encourage abscission when crushed, rubbed, or bruised -specimen plantings can gradually be limbed up into Liabilities multi-trunked form, if desired -often suckers from its trunk base and , and Foliage thereby extends its original boundaries in a slowly -medium to dark green, alternate, obovate, and invasive manner (if this is desired, it is an asset) sparsely serrated on the upper half of some -foliage, while semi-evergreen, often winter burns -semi-evergreen to and partially remains on the shrub, and thus partially deciduous in winter, hides the showy silver berries with some dead brown -legginess with maturity leaves also hanging on -a male pollinator is needed for production if throughout most of the female plants (rather than monecious plants) are winter present -if plants are periodically sheared, less -occuring in Apr. and production will result if the pruning is done after ornamentally insig- mid-July, by which time floral buds on the first-year nificant monoecious or wood have set for the next season dioecious; plants in the Habitat nursery industry are -Zones 3 to 7 often selected for -Native to Eastern , primarily in monoecious character northern areas along the seashore (hence its so that separate male adaptation to salt spray) and female plants (in dioecious selections) SELECTIONS are not required for Alternates landscape plantings - with ornamental winter berries (Aronia arbutifolia, Ilex , etc.) or other attractive -light green fruits in winter features (Cornus sericea, Corylus avellana summer mature to silver 'Contorta', Hydrangea quercifolia, Salix discolor, or white-gray small berries in autumn and persist into etc.) the following growing season -salt spray tolerant shrubs (Prunus x cistena, -berries are sessile and in tight clusters along the Potentilla fruticosa, Ribes alpinum, etc.) second-year stems wet-site tolerant shrubs (Cornus sericea, Ilex -the showy ornamental berries are best displayed on verticillata, Salix purpurea, etc.) plants where the foliage completely abscises from the Cultivars – Variants – Related species stems in winter - either on plants genetically -the straight species is the most common form predisposed for complete foliage drop, or those plants available