Plural of bayberry; small waxy berries produced by certain shrubs, traditionally used to make scented candles.
From 'bay' plus 'berry'; the plant is also called waxmyrtle or candleberry. Colonial Americans discovered that boiling bayberries released a fragrant wax, leading to widespread colonial candle-making.
Bayberry candles are celebrated in American colonial nostalgia—but the real history is that colonists learned this technique from Indigenous people, yet the 'colonial' label erases that knowledge transfer.
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