Myrtus communis, 
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 Anslo-America. 
Derivations. This : species was called murtos by the Greeks, and it is remarkable that from this word originated the namai 
Of this tree in all the languages of Europe. 3 >vou mo uaui 
fi frefbelow 58 ' LoU<3on ' Arboretum Briunnicum, ii. fig. 706 and figs. 2469 et 2470 ; Encyclopedia of Plants, fig. 6971 ; and the 
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 
when cultivated under favourable circumstances, it attains 
four or five times that elevation. When trained as a tree 
with a clear stem, the head is thickly crowded with small u 
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. Common Broad-leaved or Roman Myrtle ; Myrte romain, 
of the French, with ovate leaves, long pedicels, and black fruit. This kind is 
