0381 



SWEET GALE, BAYBERRY. 



Family: AMENTACEAE [Translator's note: now in the family Myricaceae] 

 Reproductive system: DlOECY, TETRANDRY. 



The sweet gale, Myrica gale, Linn., is a bushy shrub about a meter high. Its 

 numerous reddish branches bear leaves that are alternate, oblong, denticulated at the tip, a 

 bit firm, dull green above and strewn with yellowish resinous spots underneath. The male 

 flowers, separate from the female ones, form small catkins at the ends of the branches 

 before the leaves come out. The flowers on the female plants form small reddish sessile 

 globules. The ovary is crowned with two styles and two stigmas. The fruit is a small 

 monospermous capsule. 



FLOWERS: in May and June. 



RANGE: France, the forest of Rambouillet [Translator's note: about 50 km SW of 

 Paris], in damp areas. 



USES. The leaves of this tree have a pleasant but too penetrating an aromatic odor. 

 When brewed like tea, they go to your head. In Sweden they're put into beer to give it 

 flavor, but they're said to make it intoxicating. They're also placed among fabrics to keep 

 insects away. Simon Pauli [Translator's note: Paulli, 1603-1680, a physician and botanist 

 in Denmark] says that in Poland a decoction of sweet gale is used for getting rid of 

 vermin on livestock. 



The wax myrtle of Carolina and Louisiana, Myrica cerifera Linn., is a small tree 

 that grows two or three meters high. Its numerous branches have a reddish bark. The 

 leaves are alternate, lanceolate, oblong-oval, and have widely spaced pointed teeth from 

 their midpoint to their tip. The fruits are small, rounded, and covered with a whitish 

 powder. 



The bayberry shrub, Myrica pensylvanica, not as tall as the preceding one, has 

 been confused with it. The leaves are distinctly wider, less dentate, and often quite entire. 

 They're flecked below with a myriad of tiny yellow spots. The newest leaves are rolled 

 up underneath. The fruit, quite similar to that of the preceding species, 



