Common Name: MYRTLE FAMILY Habit: [Subshrub] shrub, tree, trunk bark smooth or scaly; glands 0 or embedded in epidermis. Leaf: opposite or alternate, persistent, generally glandular when young. Inflorescence: generally axillary, raceme, panicle, cyme, or flowers 1. Flower: generally bisexual, parts in 4s, 5s, generally +- white; hypanthium exceeding ovary or not; stamens generally many; ovary [rarely superior to] inferior, 2--5(18)-chambered; placentas axillary, just below top, or basal, ovules few to many, generally in 2--many series. Fruit: berry, capsule, nut. Seed: 1--many; coat membranous to +- leathery or hard, bony; embryo starchy or oily (of great taxonomic importance). Genera In Family: 100 genera, +- 3500 species: many species tropical America, Australasia, fewer Africa, southern Asia; economically important for timber (Eucalyptus), spices (Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & L.M. Perry, cloves; Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr., allspice), edible fruits (Psidium guajava L., guava; Acca sellowiana (O. Berg) Burret, pineapple guava), many orns (Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, several other genera). Note: Apparently of Gondwanan origins; tropics, subtropics, Mediterranean climates. Chamelaucium uncinatum Schauer, Luma apiculata (DC.) Burret, Melaleuca citrina (Curtis) Dum.Cours., Myrtus communis L., Syzygium australe (Link) B. Hyland are waifs. eFlora Treatment Author: Leslie R. Landrum, except as noted Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Habit: Shrub, small tree. Stem: erect or leaning; bark shed in small flakes; trunk rough. Leaf: generally opposite. Inflorescence: flowers 1 in axils, pedicelled. Flower: hypanthium +- obconic; calyx lobes, petals 5, free; stamens many; ovary chambers 2--3; style < 1 cm. Fruit: berry, < 1 cm, blue-purple. Seed: +- flattened, snailshell-like, outer rim of seed coat shiny, hard, only a few cells thick, easily broken; central portion of seed often soft; embryo a C-shaped cylinder, +- 2 × cotyledons in length. Etymology: (Ancient Greek name)
Myrtus communis L.
WAIF Stem: < 6 m, trunk +- contorted, gray to orange-brown. Leaf: 0.8--4.5, ovate or lanceolate to elliptic, acute to acuminate, thinly leathery, dark green adaxially. Flower: < 2.5 cm wide; petals round to ovate, white, spreading, adaxially concave; stamens forming a dense ring, +- = petals. Fruit: < 12 mm wide. Ecology: Disturbed wet areas; Elevation: 740 m. Bioregional Distribution: NCoRI; Distribution Outside California: native to Mediterranean, naturalized Louisiana, Texas, potentially escaping in humid, non-freezing areas in North America. Note: Often cultivated in California. Jepson eFlora Author: Leslie R. Landrum Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Myrtus Next taxon: Syzygium
Citation for this treatment: Leslie R. Landrum 2012, Myrtus communis, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=77266, accessed on April 17, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 17, 2024.
No expert verified images found for Myrtus communis.
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