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MYRTLE

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 115 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MYRTLE . The pbpros of the Greeks, the myrtus of the See also:

Romans, and the myrtle, Myrtus communis (see fig.), of botanists, as now found growing See also:wild in many parts of the Mediterranean region, doubtless all belong to one and the same See also:species. It is a See also:low-growing, See also:evergreen See also:shrub, with opposite leaves, varying in Myrtle (Myrtus communis). I. See also:Vertical See also:section of See also:flower, 3. See also:Berry, enlarged. enlarged. 4. See also:Seed with contained embryo, 2. See also:Plan of flower in See also:horizontal e, much enlarged. See also:plane. dimensions, but always small, See also:simple, dark-See also:green, thick in texture, and studded with numerous receptacles for oil.

When the See also:

leaf is held up to the See also:light it appears as if perforated with See also:pin- ' See also:Liber quotulianus contra-rotulatoris garderobae Edw. I. (See also:London, 1787), pp, xxxii. and 27.holes owing to the translucency of these oil-cysts. The fragrance of the plant depends upon the presence of this oil. Another peculiarity of the myrtle is the existence of a prominent vein See also:running See also:round the leaf within the margin. The See also:flowers are See also:borne on See also:short stalks in the axils of the leaves. The flower-stalk is dilated at its upper end into a globose or ovoid receptacle enclosing the 2- to 4-partitioned ovary. From its margin proceed the five sepals, and within them the five rounded, See also:spoon-shaped, spreading, See also:white petals. The stamens See also:spring from the receptacle within the petals and are very numerous, each consisting of a slender white filament and a small yellow two-lobed anther. The See also:style surmounting the ovary is slender, terminating in a small See also:button-like stigma. The See also:fruit is a purplish berry, consisting of the receptacle and the ovary blended into one succulent investment enclosing very numerous See also:minute seeds. The embryo-plant within the seed is usually curved.

In cultivation many varieties are known, dependent on See also:

variations in the See also:size and shape of the leaves, the presence of so-called See also:double flowers, &c. The typical species is quite See also:hardy in the See also:south of See also:England. The Chilean species, M. Ugni, a shrub with ovate, dark green leaves and white flowers succeeded by globular red or See also:black glossy truit with a pleasant See also:smell and See also:taste, is a greenhouse shrub, hardy in south-See also:west See also:Britain. The See also:common myrtle is the See also:sole representative in See also:Europe of a large genus which has its headquarters in extra-tropical South See also:America, whilst other members are found in See also:Australia and New See also:Zealand. The genus Myrtus also gives its name to a very large natural See also:order, Myrtaceae, the See also:general floral structure of which is like that of the myrtle above described, but there are See also:great See also:differences in the nature of the fruit or seed-See also:vessel according as it is dry or capsular, dehiscent, indehiscent or pulpy; See also:minor differences exist according to the way in which the stamens are arranged. The aromatic oil to which the myrtle owes its fragrance, and its use in See also:medicine and the arts, is a very general attribute of the order, as may be inferred from the fact that the order includes, amongst other genera, See also:Eucalyptus (q.v.), Pimenta and Eugenia (See also:cloves). Myrtol, a constituent of myrtle oil, has been given in doses of 5—15 minims on See also:sugar or in capsules for pulmonary See also:tuberculosis, fetid See also:bronchitis, See also:bronchiectasis, and similar conditions. It appears to lessen expectoration in such cases. The leaves of Myrtus chekan are aromatic and expectorant, and have been used in chronic bronchitis.

End of Article: MYRTLE

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