{"id":6039,"date":"2021-12-08T23:46:15","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T23:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/herbarium\/?p=6039"},"modified":"2021-12-08T23:46:15","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T23:46:15","slug":"adventbotany-2021-day-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/herbarium\/2021\/12\/08\/adventbotany-2021-day-8\/","title":{"rendered":"#AdventBotany 2021 – Day 8 – Myrtus communis<\/i> (myrtle)"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alastair Culham<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“And waving wide her myrtle wand, She strikes a universal peace through sea and land.” brings us to another story. The common myrtle, Myrtus communis <\/em>(Myrtaceae), is a familiar garden plant in temperate gardens, especially in Europe and North America.\u00a0 Its aromatic evergreen foliage and white flowers with tufts of stamens make it a very decorative garden shrub.\u00a0 It’s not to be confused with crepe myrtle (Lythraceae) or creeping myrtle (Apocynaceae) which are also widely grown but unrelated and rather poisonous.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Scent of the mediterranean<\/h3>\n

Myrtle is a frequent member of mediterranean woodland and scrub extending from the Macaronesian islands in the West through to Asia in the East.\u00a0 It’s shiny evergreen leaves release a rich oily smell that scents scrublands and woodlands in warm weather. Even in my rather colder british garden, myrtle fills the air with scent on warm summer evenings. The natural distribution of myrtle is intriguing as it occurs over a great distance but in widely separated populations.\u00a0 This may be a product of its ability to persist over long periods in small areas and to disperse over large distances (Migliore et al. 2012), perhaps through its fleshy fruit.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Myrtus communis<\/i> in fruit growing in Andalusia. (Photo: A.Culham)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Myrtle was grown in the Moorish gardens of Spain in the Middle Ages. It has been suggested that Sir Walter Raleigh brought it to the UK from Spain in 1585 but it could have been grown here earlier (Blakely, 2018).\u00a0 By the 17th century, myrtle was being grown in the UK as an ornamental plant but usually protected in winter from the cold weather. It now seems very hardy, at least in southern Britain.<\/p>\n

Queen Victoria to Megan Markle<\/h3>\n

While Queen Victoria is said to have been decorated with orange blossom for her wedding, but her oldest daughter, Victoria, had Myrtle.\u00a0 This is said to symbolize virginity and is often linked to the Virgin Mary (Robertson and Stokes, 1982). A myrtle bouquet given to Queen Victoria is reputed to be the source of the myrtles still grown at Osborne House (The Isle of Wight retreat of victoria,and Albert).\u00a0 In the garden there is a plaque saying “This MYRTLE was raised from a sprig <\/em>cut off the Nosegay presented\u00a0<\/em>to THE QUEEN on leaving GOTHA <\/em>Sept.<\/em> 3rd<\/sup>, 1845, by H.R.H. the DOWA<\/em>GER DUCHESS OF SAXE GOTHA and <\/em>ALTENBURG (Grandmother to <\/em>H.R.H. the PRINCE CONSORT).” <\/em>(Silverman, 2018).<\/p>\n

We don’t have a family myrtle but we do have a family Aspidistra<\/em> – and that seems to symbolise Victorian stuffiness (Patowary, 2019)! Having said that, ours is variegated so perhaps there is some hope for us yet?<\/p>\n

For a more poetic read, have a look at the inspiration for this #AdventBotany blog – https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/44735\/on-the-morning-of-christs-nativity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References<\/h3>\n

Blakely, J. 2018.. Myrtle: The Provenance and Meaning of a Plant. June 28, 2018 (https:\/\/blog.library.si.edu\/blog\/2018\/06\/28\/myrtle-the-provenance-and-meaning-of-a-plant\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Migliore, J., Baumel, A., Juin, M. and M\u00e9dail, F., 2012. From Mediterranean shores to central Saharan mountains: key phylogeographical insights from the genus Myrtus. Journal of Biogeography<\/i>, 39 (5), 942-956.<\/p>\n

Roberson, B. and Stokes, J. Jr. (1982) The Herbs and Flowers of the Virgin Mary. The Herbarist (reproduced at https:\/\/udayton.edu\/imri\/mary\/h\/herbs-and-flowers-of-the-virgin-mary.php<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Patowary, K. 2019. Why Victorian People Loved Posing Next to Aspidistra Plants. Amusing Planet (https:\/\/www.amusingplanet.com\/2019\/04\/why-victorian-people-loved-posing-next.html<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Silverman, H. 2018. The history of Osborne myrtle in royal weddings. English Heritage (https:\/\/blog.english-heritage.org.uk\/osborne-myrtle-and-royal-weddings\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alastair Culham “And waving wide her myrtle wand, She strikes a universal peace through sea and land.” brings us to another story. 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