Myr·tle n. Bot. A species of the genus Myrtus, especially Myrtus communis. The common myrtle has a shrubby, upright stem, eight or ten feet high. Its branches form a close, full head, thickly covered with ovate or lanceolate evergreen leaves. It has solitary axillary white or rosy flowers, followed by black several-seeded berries. The ancients considered it sacred to Venus. The flowers, leaves, and berries are used variously in perfumery and as a condiment, and the beautifully mottled wood is used in turning.
Note: ☞ The name is also popularly but wrongly applied in America to two creeping plants, the blue-flowered periwinkle and the yellow-flowered moneywort. In the West Indies several myrtaceous shrubs are called myrtle.
Bog myrtle, the sweet gale.
Crape myrtle. See under Crape.
Myrtle warbler Zool., a North American wood warbler (Dendroica coronata); -- called also myrtle bird, yellow-rumped warbler, and yellow-crowned warbler.
Myrtle wax. Bot. See Bayberry tallow, under Bayberry.
Sand myrtle, a low, branching evergreen shrub (Leiophyllum buxifolium), growing in New Jersey and southward.
Wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera). See Bayberry.
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Bay·ber·ry n. Bot. (a) The fruit of the bay tree or Laurus nobilis. (b) A tree of the West Indies related to the myrtle (Pimenta acris). (c) The fruit of Myrica cerifera (wax myrtle); the shrub itself; -- called also candleberry tree.
Bayberry tallow, a fragrant green wax obtained from the bayberry or wax myrtle; -- called also myrtle wax.
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Can·dle·ber·ry tree Bot. A shrub (the Myrica cerifera, or wax-bearing myrtle), common in North America, the little nuts of which are covered with a greenish white wax, which was formerly, used for hardening candles; -- also called bayberry tree, bayberry, or candleberry.
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Myrica cerifera
n : evergreen aromatic shrubby tree of southeastern United
States having small hard berries thickly coated with
white wax used for candles [syn: bay myrtle, puckerbush]