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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myrtle warbler
n : similar to Audubon's warbler [syn: myrtle bird, Dendroica
coronata]