Ethnobotanical and general use

The species of Myrica all have a very similar use. UPHOF (1968) mentions 9 species. Most of them are a source of wax derived from the surface of the fruit, possibly used for manufacture of candles. M. pubescens WILLD. of the cool Andean belt also growing in Venezuela produces a wax of excellent quality. The wax is prepared from the fruits by placing the branches in boiling water so that the wax is skimmed off. Bark of the roots is astringent and tonic. Fruits or seeds are eaten. Medicinally the plants are used against dysentery, as antip arasiticum (against moths), for skin diseases, for jaundice and diarrhoea. A decoction of rootbark of M. mexicana is supposed to be acrid, astringent, and in large doses emetic. Myrica gale is sometimes put in beer to increase foaming (saponin). The family is rich in polyphenols and triterpenes.

South American medicinal plants : botany, remedial properties, and general use / I. Roth, H. Lindorf. Berlin ; New York : Springer, c2002. -- p. 492.