Category:Myrtle

Myr"tle, n. Etym: [F. myrtil bilberry, prop., a little myrtle, from myrte myrtle, L. myrtus, murtus, Gr. m.] (Bot.)

Defn: A species of the genus Myrtus, especially Myrtus communis. The common myrtle has a shrubby, upright stem, eight or ten feet high. Its branches form a close, full head, thickly covered with ovate or lanceolate evergreen leaves. It has solitary axillary white or rosy flowers, followed by black several-seeded berries. The ancients considered it sacred to Venus. The flowers, leaves, and berries are used variously in perfumery and as a condiment, and the beautifully mottled wood is used in turning.

Note: The name is also popularly but wrongly applied in America to two creeping plants, the blue-flowered periwinkle and the yellow- flowered moneywort. In the West Indies several myrtaceous shrubs are called myrtle. Bog myrtle, the sweet gale. -- Crape myrtle. See under Crape. -- Myrtle warbler (Zoöl.), a North American wood warbler (Dendroica coronata); -- called also myrtle bird, yellow-rumped warbler, and yellow-crowned warbler. -- Myrtle wax. (Bot.) See Bayberry tallow, under Bayberry. -- Sand myrtle, a low, branching evergreen shrub (Leiophyllum buxifolium), growing in New Jersey and southward. -- Wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera). See Bayberry.

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---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Myrtle - Isaiah 41:19; Nehemiah 8:15; Zechariah 1:8), Hebrew hadas, known in the East by the name as, the Myrtus communis of the botanist. "Although no myrtles are now found on the mount (of Olives), excepting in the gardens, yet they still exist in many of the glens about Jerusalem, where we have often seen its dark shining leaves and white flowers. There are many near Bethlehem and about Hebron, especially near Dewir Dan, the ancient Debir. It also sheds its fragrance on the sides of Carmel and of Tabor, and fringes the clefts of the Leontes in its course through Galilee. We meet with it all through Central Palestine" (Tristram).