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OREGON MYRTLE or (Umbellularia californica)
CALIFORNIA LAUREL
Other names: myrtle, bayberry. pepperwood. laurel, bay, waxmyrtle.

FAIR

The California laurel has many common names but is. called myrtle in Oregon. which name is used here. The tree is found only in California and southwestern Oregon. This tree is slow growing, hard, thin barked, up to4 ft. or so in diameter and may live to over 200 years of age. The leaves have an unmistakably pungent, almost acrid odor when crushed. Cutting through dense young myrtle can induce severe headaches due to the pungent smell. This tree is highly prized for its very hard, heavy, and beautifully grained wood, from which novelties, tables. gun stocks. etc. are made. The tree is very subject to decaying fungus, or conk, when injured. 

As an original bearing tree, the blaze is usually decayed. The tree decays readily whenever injured and usually has several decayed places on a tree of any size. This confuses the issue, for a rotted hole will be no indication that it is in fact a blazed bearing tree. The dried and seasoned heart wood is very hard. but the sapwood decays quickly. A mirror is a useful tool in searching for a myrtle bearing tree. Shine sunlight into the open holes or hold the mirror down inside the holes when searching for the "reverse" scribing in the overgrowth. A flashlight would be helpful in densely forested conditions. Do not cut into the tree until you are reasonably certain it is in fact a bearing tree and then only enough to verify that it is. The myrtle is becoming rare enough that indiscriminate cutting should be avoided. 

When marking a myrtle for a bearing tree, keep the size of the blaze to a minimum but through the sapwood, and paint it thoroughly to forestall decay. Avoid marking large trees.