MYRTLE

This article appears in Volume V19, Page 115 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MOS-NAN

MYRTLE . The pbpros of the Greeks, the myrtus of the Romans, and the myrtle, Myrtus communis (see fig.), of botanists, as now found growing wild in many parts of the Mediterranean region, doubtless all belong to one and the same species. It is a low-growing, evergreen shrub, with opposite leaves, varying in

Myrtle (Myrtus communis).
I. Vertical section of flower, 3.

Berry

, enlarged.
enlarged. 4. Seed with contained embryo,
2. Plan of flower in

horizontal

HORIZONTAL

e, much enlarged.
plane.
dimensions, but always small, simple, dark-green, thick in texture, and studded with numerous receptacles for oil. When the leaf is held up to the light it appears as if perforated with pin-
' Liber quotulianus contra-rotulatoris garderobae Edw. I. (London, 1787), pp, xxxii. and 27.holes owing to the translucency of these oil-cysts. The fragrance of the plant depends upon the presence of this oil. Another peculiarity of the myrtle is the existence of a prominent vein running round the leaf within the margin. The

flowers

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

are borne on short stalks in the axils of the leaves. The flower-stalk is dilated at its upper end into a globose or ovoid receptacle enclosing the 2- to 4-partitioned ovary. From its margin proceed the five sepals, and within them the five rounded, spoon-shaped, spreading, white petals. The stamens

spring

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

from the receptacle within the petals and are very numerous, each consisting of a slender white filament and a small yellow two-lobed anther. The style surmounting the ovary is slender, terminating in a small button-like stigma. The fruit is a purplish

berry

, consisting of the receptacle and the ovary blended into one succulent investment enclosing very numerous minute seeds. The embryo-plant within the seed is usually curved. In cultivation many varieties are known, dependent on variations in the size and shape of the leaves, the presence of so-called

double

flowers

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

, &c. The typical species is quite

hardy

in the

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

of England. The Chilean species, M. Ugni, a shrub with ovate, dark green leaves and white flowers succeeded by globular red or black glossy truit with a pleasant smell and taste, is a greenhouse shrub,

hardy

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

-west Britain. The common myrtle is the sole representative in Europe of a large genus which has its headquarters in extra-tropical South America, whilst other members are found in Australia and New Zealand. The genus Myrtus also gives its name to a very large natural order, Myrtaceae, the general floral structure of which is like that of the myrtle above described, but there are

great

GREAT

differences in the nature of the fruit or seed-vessel according as it is dry or capsular, dehiscent, indehiscent or pulpy;

minor

differences exist according to the way in which the stamens are arranged. The aromatic oil to which the myrtle owes its fragrance, and its use in medicine and the arts, is a very general attribute of the order, as may be inferred from the fact that the order includes, amongst other genera, Eucalyptus (q.v.), Pimenta and Eugenia (cloves). Myrtol, a constituent of myrtle oil, has been given in doses of 515 minims on sugar or in capsules for pulmonary tuberculosis, fetid bronchitis, bronchiectasis, and similar conditions. It appears to lessen expectoration in such cases. The leaves of Myrtus chekan are aromatic and expectorant, and have been used in chronic bronchitis.

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