Dune Waxberry – 10 Seeds

Dune Waxberry (Morella cordifolia) is a low-growing, evergreen, spreading shrub. The plant was a valuable plant in the domestic life of the early colonists and the Khoi people.

It sends out slender branches horizontally that lie along the ground, with upright-growing shoots that can reach up to 2 or 3 m in height. The leaves are small, shiny, heart-shaped, toothed and gland-dotted. They have no stalk and are arranged densely and neatly along the branches. Crushed leaves have a faint, sweet scent. Flowering takes place in Mid Autumn to Early Winter.

Male plants produce many solitary catkin-like flowers in the axils of the leaves. Red-tinged buds open and elongate to yellow-brown spikes, 2-5 mm long. The female flowers are densely clustered around the stem and develop into 5-8 mm diameter, purple-blue, round berries covered with a warty layer of wax that gives them a silvery sheen.

Common Names: Waxberry, Candle Berry, Waxbush (Eng.); Duin-wasbessie and Glashout (Afr.); ilethi (Zulu)

Uses

• The wax can be used as a polish, as an ointment for dressing wounds, to make candles and to make soap.
• The berry wax has also been eaten as a food since early times, in particular by the Khoi. The wax is actually not wax, but a true fat.
• The bark of the roots and stems is used for tanning skins.
• The bark from stems and rhizomes is used medicinally as an astringent.

Growing Dune Waxberry

Indoor Sowing: Spring.

Direct Sowing: Spring and Autumn.

• Surface sow the seed into a tray that contains a soil mixture of sand and coco peat.
• Cover the seed with a thin layer of the soil mixture.
• Place the tray in a sunny area and water regularly.
• Germination in about 2 – 3 months, so patience is required.
• It grows well in sun or semi-shade, in well-drained soil and will tolerate poor soils.
• This shrub tends to spread and sends out sideways-growing shoots in odd directions. Prune to keep low or tidy.