Myrica faya
Myrica faya is a species of Myrica, native to Macaronesia, and possibly also southern Portugal.
It is an evergreen shrub or small tree 3–8 m tall, rarely up to 15 m tall. The leaves are usually a dark, glossy green, 4–11 cm long and 1–3 cm broad, with an entire margin and a bluntly pointed apex. It easily grows in any type of soil.
It is subdioecious, with the male and female flowers produced largely on separate plants, but often with a few flowers of the other sex present. The male flowers have four stamens and are normally produced in clumps close to the branch. The female flowers, usually occurring in similar groups grow slightly farther from the branch tips. The fruit is an edible drupe 5–6 mm diameter, it is a reddish purple ripening dark purple to black. It is used as an astringent remedy for catarrh.
In Macaronesian islands it occurs most abundantly at altitudes of 600–900 m. The population in Continental Portugal may be native or naturalised following early importation from Madeira or the Azores. It is an invasive species in Hawaii, where it displaces native trees such as Metrosideros polymorpha, with profound impacts on nitrogen cycling.
