Myrtus conmiimis, 

 THE COMMON MYRTLE-TREE. 



Synonymes. 



Myrtus communis, 



Myrte, Meurthe, Herbe du lagui, 



Myrthe, 



Myrter, 



Myrten, 



Mirto, 



Mirto, Arrayan, 



Myrta, Murta, 



Myrtle, 



LiNN^us, Species Plantarum. 



De Candolle, Prodromus. 



Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 



France. 



Germany. 



Denmark. 



Sweden. 



Italy. 



Spain. 



Portugal. 



Britain and Anglo- America. 



Derivations. This specieg was called murtos by the Greeks, and it is remarkable that from thia word originated the namei 

 of this tree in all the languages of Europe. 



Engravings. Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, ii. fig. 70C and figs. 2469 et 2470 ; Encyclopasdia of Plants, fig. 6971 ; and the 

 figures below. 



Specific Characters. Flowers solitary, white. Involucre 2-leaved. Loudon, Enc. of Plants. 



Description. 



" In the hollow breast of Appenine, 

 Beneath the shelter of encircling hills, 

 A myrtle rises, far from human eye, 

 And breathes its balmy fragrance o'er the wild." 



Thomson. 



HE Myrtus commu- 

 nis is a beautiful 

 evergreen shrub, 

 growing to a height 

 of five or six feet, 

 in a wild state, and 

 circumstances, it attains 

 When trained as a tree 



when cultivated under favourable 



four or five times that elevation. 



with a clear stem, the head is thickly crowded with small 



branches, which only bear leaves at their extremities, and it 



presents, when the eye is beneath it, a meagre appearance, 



"looking," as is observed in the " Nouveau Du Hamel," "more like a magpie's 



nest, or a dead bush placed on a pole, than a living tree ;" but, when trained 



against a wall, or formed into groves or hedges, perfuming the air in the months 



of July and August, with its elegant green leaves and snow-white flowers, it 



forms one of the most beautiful objects of the vegetable kingdom. 



Varieties. The following forms, or varieties of myrtle, the first of which may 

 be considered as the species, are given in Don's Miller's Dictionary : 



1. M. c. ROMANA. Commo7i Broad-leaved or Roman Myrtle; Myrte romain, 

 of the French, with ovate leaves, long pedicels, and black fruit. This kind is 



