0390 



that it emits were noted in earliest antiquity. The Israelites combined its branches with 

 those of the palm tree during the festival of Tabernacles (1) [Translator's note: the ritual 

 is still observed today]. 



Poets consecrated it to the goddess of love. The poplar, according to Virgil (2) 

 pleased Alcidus, the grapevine delighted Bacchus, and the myrtle the beautiful Venus. 

 Aeneas [Translator's note: son of Venus and Anchises] attended contests with his 

 mother's myrtle around his forehead. The muse Erato who inspired love poetry and all the 

 elegiac poets were crowned with its leaves. Virgil placed a grove of myrtle in the 

 underworld where amorous souls would wander. However scholars don't agree on why 

 the myrtle was consecrated to Venus. Some believe that at the moment of her birth the 

 goddess was drying her beautiful hair near the seashore and was seen by satyrs. She 

 escaped their view by hiding underneath myrtle trees. Others thought it's because she 

 crowned herself with myrtle leaves after her victory over Juno and Pallas Athena. 



USES. Myrtles are used for garden decoration in parts of France where they're not 

 damaged by the cold. The berries and leaves are astringent; they're used as ingredients in 

 several ointments. 



CULTIVATION. They're propagated from seeds. But since they take root so easily 

 from layers and cuttings, there's no need to consider growing them from seeds which 

 always takes longer and is costlier. 



( 1 ) Esdras, chap. VIII, verse 1 5 [ Translator's note: the citation is for 2 Esdras. This is the Book of Nehemiah 

 in the King James and Hebrew Bibles]. (2). Eclogues VII. (3). Aeneid. Book VI. 



KEY TO PLATE. 



1. Common myrtle flowering and fruiting. 2. Complete calyx. 3. Longitudinal 

 section of calyx to show insertion of stamens. 4. 5. Berry. 6. Seed, enlarged. 



