Family |
Myrtaceae
Myrtus communis
L.
Myrtus communis L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 471 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 563, Pl. CCXLIII, 6; 1970)
• Life-form & habit: Aromatic evergreen shrub, usually branching from the base, 50–200 cm tall in Mouterde's treatment; young branches four-angled.
• Leaves: Opposite, leathery and short-stalked, ovate-lanceolate, pointed, and dotted with translucent glands.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Flowers solitary in leaf axils on stalks slightly shorter than the leaves. Five white, rounded, concave petals spread around numerous stamens; calyx lobes are ovate and somewhat pointed.
• Fruit: Nearly spherical berry, usually very dark blue; white-fruited forms also occur.
• Phenology: Flowering May–October.
• Habitat & elevation: Wooded or partly wooded Mediterranean habitats, especially on non-calcareous ground.
• Lebanese distribution: Beirut, Nahr Beirut, Nahr el Kalb, Qalmoun, Tripoli, Abey, Ain Rihaniye and Kornet el Hamra.
• Syrian distribution: Latakia, Bdama, Safita, Qastal Maaf and Lake Trane.
• Native range: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azores, Baleares, Canary Is., Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, NW. Balkan Pen., Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Spain, Tunisia, Türkiye, Yemen.
• Introduced into: California, Cape Provinces, Cuba, Leeward Is., Louisiana, Puerto Rico, Texas, Windward Is..