Myrtus
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Myrtus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Family
- Myrtaceae
Common Names
- Myrtle
Editorial Note
Myrtus has historically been treated as a broad genus that included the genera since split off as Amomyrtus, Lophomyrtus, Luma, Myrteola among others. The segregate genera are characterised chiefly on the grounds of seed and embryo characters coupled with geographical distribution. Bean’s original treatment followed the older, broad interpretation. Here we arrange his original entries, lightly edited, according to the modern taxonomic understanding.
Evergreen shrubs or trees with opposite, entire, glandular-punctate leaves. Flowers white (sometimes slightly tinged with pink), axillary, solitary or in few-flowered clusters. Sepals and petals four or five. Stamens numerous. Ovary enclosed in the calyx-tube, with a single style. Fruits berry-like, crowned by the persistent calyx.
As currently circumscribed, Myrtus sensu strictu comprises two species only, both native to the Old World, with a broadly circum-Mediterranean distribution that extends into North Africa and western Asia.