Faya, haya (Morella faya) (sin. Myrica faya)

Dioecious, tree-like shrub or tree, up to 16-18 m, very rough bark when mature. Evergreen foliage, leaves oblanceolate, light green but growing darker with time, 4-12 cm long and revolute dentate margins. Greenish-yellow flowers, densely clustered. Fruits are fleshy drupes, 4-6 mm in diameter, initially green but becoming reddish or black when ripe. Faya or wax myrtle is part of fayal-brezal or fayal firetree and heath forest, depending on whether it grows in a monospecific community or alongside heather (Erica arborea). Found in the Canary Islands and Madeira, from 300-400 m and 1,500 m, in certain damp or mixed forests of Canary pine. In the Azores, it grows practically at sea level. This native to Macaronesia (the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands) and the western sector of the Iberian Peninsula has also been introduced into Hawaii, where it is now considered a serious threat and has been subject to control for some time. Fruits are edible drupes and were ground to make flour in periods of famine.