If you want good luck for the New Year, tradition suggests you light a bayberry candle on New Year’s Eve. Carrying a bit of the bark in your pocket or wallet is also said to attract wealth. The plant’s wax has a long tradition of being made into candles famously burned over the Christmas holidays. As an herb, the plant was well known by the Native American Indians who used it to help support the immune system, connective tissue function and the respiratory system. The Chinese bayberry is in the same Myrica genus, but has sweet and tart fruit that are eaten. The fruit is highly nutritious and helps strengthen blood vessels.

Discover Bayberry (Yang Mei) and other herbs by visiting our Herb Directory.