Myrtle

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Myrtle

The Myrtle (Myrtus) is a genus of one or two species of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s in the family Myrtaceae

Myrtaceae

The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtus, clove, guava, feijoa, allspice, and eucalyptus belong here....
, native to southern Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
and north Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
. They are evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s or small tree

TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s, growing to 5 m tall. The leaves

Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
are entire, 3-5 cm long, with a fragrant essential oil

Essential oil

An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. They are also known as volatile or ethereal oils, or simply as the "oil of" the plant material from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove....
. The star-like flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s have five petals and sepals, and numerous stamen

Stamen

The stamen is the male organ of a flower. Each stamen generally has a stalk called the filament , and, on top of the filament, an anther , and pollen sacs, called sporangium....
s. Petals are usually white. The fruits are globose blue-black berries

Berry

In everyday English, a berry is a broad term for any small edible fruit. Most berries are juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, and don't have a stone or pit....
containing several seed

Seed

A seed is a small Plant embryogenesis plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some Food storage. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant....
s. The flowers are pollinated by insect

Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s, and the seeds dispersed by bird

Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s that feed on the berries.

The Common Myrtle Myrtus communis, also called True Myrtle, is widespread in the Mediterranean region and is commonly cultivated.

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Encyclopedia

The Myrtle (Myrtus) is a genus of one or two species of flowering plant

Flowering plant

Myrtaceae

Europe

Africa

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
shrub

Shrub

TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s, growing to 5 m tall. The leaves

Leaf

Essential oil

Flower

Stamen

Berry

Seed

Insect

Bird

Tassili n'Ajjer

Tassili n'Ajjer is a mountain range in the Sahara desert in southeast Algeria, North Africa. It extends about 500 km from east-south-east to , and the highest point is Adrar Afao, 2158 m, at ....
mountains in southern Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
and the Tibesti Mountains

Tibesti Mountains

The Tibesti Mountains are a group of dormant volcanoes forming a mountain range in the central Sahara desert in the Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region of northern Chad....
in Chad

Chad

Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west....
, where it occurs in small areas of sparse relict woodland near the centre of the Sahara Desert; it is listed as an endangered species

Conservation status

The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant taxon either in the present day or the near future....
. However, some botanists are not convinced that M. nivellei is sufficiently distinct to be treated as a separate species.

Modern uses

Myrtle is cultivated as an ornamental garden shrub, particularly for its numerous flowers in later summer. It may be clipped to form a hedge.

It is used in the islands of Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the Mediterranean islands#By area island in the Mediterranean Sea . The area of Sardinia is . The island is surrounded by the France island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Tunisia and the Balearic Islands....
and Corsica

Corsica

Corsica is the Mediterranean islands#By area in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the France mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
to produce an aromatic liqueur called "Mirto

Mirto (drink)

Mirto is a liqueur popular in Sardinia, obtained from the Myrtus plant through the alcoholic maceration of the berries or a compound of berries and leaves....
"' by macerating

Macerating

Maceration, also known as macerating in food preparation refers to softening or breaking into pieces with liquid.Raw, dried or preserved fruit or vegetables are soaked in liquid to soften and to absorb the flavor of the liquid....
it in alcohol. It is known as one of the most typical drinks of Sardinia. There are two varieties of this drink: the "Mirto Rosso" (red) produced by macerating the berries, and the "Mirto Bianco" (white) produced from the leaves.

Uses in myth and ritual

In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
and ritual the myrtle was sacred to the goddesses Aphrodite

Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the classical Greek mythology goddess of love, sex, and beauty. According to Greek oral poet Hesiod, she was born when Uranus was castrated by his son Cronus....
and also Demeter

Demeter

File:Demeter in horse chariot w daughter kore 83d40m wikiC Tempio Y di Selinunte sec VIa.JPGDemeter , in Greek mythology, is the Goddess of cereal and fertility, the pure....
: Artemidorus

Artemidorus

Artemidorus Daldianus or Ephesius was a professional diviner and author known for an extant five-volume Greek language work Oneirocritica, ....
asserts that in interpreting dreams “a myrtle garland signifies the same as an olive garland, except that it is especially auspicious for farmers because of Demeter and for women because of Aphrodite. For the plant is sacred to both goddesses.” Pausanias

Pausanias (geographer)

Pausanias was a Roman Greece traveller and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius....
explains that one of the Graces in the sanctuary at Elis

Elis

Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district, that corresponds with the modern Elis Prefecture. It is in southern Greece on the Peloponnesos peninsula, bounded on the north by Achaea, east by Arcadia, south by Messenia, and west by the Ionian Sea....
holds a myrtle branch because “the rose and the myrtle are sacred to Aphrodite and connected with the story of Adonis

Adonis

Adonis is a figure of West Semitic origin, where he is a central cult figure in various mystery religions, who enters Greek mythology in Hellenistic culture....
, while the Graces are of all deities the nearest related to Aphrodite.” Myrtle is the garland of Iacchus

Iacchus

In Greek mythology, Iacchus is an epithet of Dionysus, particularly associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries, where he was considered to be the son of Zeus and Demeter....
, according to Aristophanes

Aristophanes

Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a prolific and much acclaimed comedy playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays have come down to us virtually complete....
, and of the victors at the Theban

Thebes, Greece

Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, Greece, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain....
Iolaea, held in honour of the Theban hero Iolaus

Iolaus

In Greek mythology, Iolaus or Iolaos was a Thebes, Greece divine hero, son of Heracles' brother Iphicles and Automedusa.He was famed for being Heracles' nephew and for helping with for some of his Labours of Hercules....
.

In Rome, Virgil explains that “the poplar is most dear to Alcides, the vine to Bacchus, the myrtle to lovely Venus, and his own laurel

Bay Laurel

The Bay Laurel , also known as True Laurel, Sweet Bay, Grecian Laurel, Laurel, or Bay Tree, is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub reaching 10?18 m tall, native to the Mediterranean region....
to Phoebus.” At the Veneralia

Veneralia

The Veneralia was the Ancient Roman festival of Venus , the goddess of love and beauty. The worship of the goddess Fortuna was also part of this festival....
, women bathed wearing crowns woven of myrtle branches, and myrtle was used in wedding rituals

In pagan and wicca rituals, myrtle is commonly associated with and sacred to Beltane

Beltane

Beltane is the anglicized spelling of Bealtaine or Bealltainn , the Goidelic languages names for either the month of May or the festival that takes place on the first day of May....
(May Day).

In Jewish liturgy, it is one of the four sacred plants of Sukkot

Sukkot

Sukkot , is a Hebrew Bible pilgrimage Jewish holiday that occurs in autumn on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . The holiday lasts seven days, including Chol Hamoed....
, the Feast of Tabernacles. Three branches are held by the worshippers along with a citron

Citron

The citron is a fragrant fruit with the botanical name Citrus medica Carolus Linnaeus, which applies to both the Walter Tennyson Swingle and Nobuyuki Tanaka systems....
, a palm

Palm

Palm usually refers to the central region of the front of the hand. It may also refer to"...
leaf, and two willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
branches. In Jewish mysticism, the myrtle represents the phallic, masculine force at work in the universe. For this reason myrtle branches were sometimes given the bridegroom as he entered the nuptial chamber after a wedding (Tos. Sotah 15:8; Ketubot 17a). Myrtles are both the symbol and scent of Eden (BhM II: 52; Sefer ha-Hezyonot 17). The Hechalot text Merkavah Rabbah requires one to suck on a myrtle leaves as an element of a theurgic ritual. Kabbalists link myrtle to the sefirah of Tiferet and use sprigs in their Shabbat (especially Havdalah) rites to draw down its harmonizing power as the week is initiated (Shab. 33a; Zohar Chadash, SoS, 64d; Sha’ar ha-Kavvanot, 2, pp. 73-76).

Ancient medicinal uses

"The myrtle occupies a prominent place in the writings of Hippocrates, Pliny, Dioscorides, Galen, and the Arabian writers"--Pharmacographia Indica 1891 edition, London.

Related plants

Many other related species native to South America

South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
and elsewhere, previously classified in a wider interpretation of the genus Myrtus, are now treated in other genera, Eugenia
Eugenia

Eugenia is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions....
, Lophomyrtus
Lophomyrtus

Lophomyrtus is a genus of the Myrtaceae native to New Zealand. It has two species, both evergreen shrubs or trees, noted for their colorful leaves, which are purple, chocolate, red or bronze-green....
, Luma
Luma (plant)

Luma is a genus of two species of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to the Valdivian temperate rain forests of southwestern South America....
, Rhodomyrtus
Rhodomyrtus

Rhodomyrtus is a genus of shrubs and trees in the family Myrtaceae. The genus is native to Asia, Australia and New Caledonia.Species include:...
, Syzygium
Syzygium

Syzygium is a genus of flowering plants that belongs to the Myrtus family, Myrtaceae. The genus comprises about 1100 species, and has a native range that extends from Africa and Madagascar through southern Asia east through the Pacific Ocean....
, Ugni
Ugni

Ugni is a genus of about 10 species of plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to western South America and Central America from the Valdivian temperate rain forests of southern Chile north to southern Mexico, and also the Juan Fern?ndez Islands off Chile....
, and at least a dozen other genera. The name "myrtle" is also used to refer to unrelated plants in several other genera: "Crape myrtle" (Lagerstroemia, Lythraceae

Lythraceae

Lythraceae is a family of flowering plants. It includes 500-600 species of mostly herbs, with some shrubs and trees, in 32 genus. Lythraceae have a worldwide distribution, with most species in the tropics but ranging into temperate climate regions as well....
), "Wax myrtle" (Morella
Myrica

Myrica is a genus of about 35-50 species of small trees and shrubs in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. The genus has a wide distribution, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and missing only from Australasia....
, Myricaceae

Myricaceae

The Myricaceae is a small family of dicotyledonous shrubs and small trees in the order Fagales. There are three genera in the family, though some botanists separate many species from Myrica into a fourth genus Morella....
), and "Myrtle" or "Creeping myrtle" (Vinca
Vinca

Vinca or Periwinkle is a genus of five species in the family Apocynaceae, native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The common name periwinkle is shared with the related genus Catharanthus....
, Apocynaceae

Apocynaceae

The Apocynaceae or dogbane family is a family of Angiosperms that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, and lianas.Many species are tall trees found in tropical rainforests, and most are from the tropics and subtropics, but some grow in tropical dry, xeric environments....
).

Footnotes

External links

, from Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages