Myrica gale or Bog-myrtle and its uses

Myrica gale or the bog-myrtle in early March growing wild at the Dyfi Osprey Project in Wales.

Myrica gale or the Bog-myrtle, Sweet willow, Dutch myrtle, and Sweetgale which are its other common names is a fascinating plant in the Myricaceae family.

This is the only native species of this family, but there occurs one other introduced species in the British Isles:

M. pensylvanica or Bayberry is an introduced species from E.N. America and is also naturalized in a few places in the B.I.

Pictures are by Matt Summers and information + pictures mainly from Wikipedia. The links on the scientific name take you to the Plant Atlas Online 2000. The link on the Common Name is mainly from Wikipedia.

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