British Native Trees
and Shrubs

Bog Myrtle or Sweet Gale Myrica gale (Myricaceae)

And I will make thee beds of roses,
And a thousand fragrant posies;
A cap of flowers and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle.

The Passionate Shepherd
Christopher Marlowe [1564-93]

 

Bog myrtle, also known by the prettier name of sweet gale, is a strongly aromatic, grey-green deciduous shrub which until the last century was a symbol of love. The plant’s tiny yellow resin glands exude a pleasant fragrance that makes it easy to identify. It generally reaches about 1.0 m in height, occasionally 2 m, and the woody, reddish-brown, upright branches carry alternate, inversely lance-shaped, grey-green leaves up to 6 cm long which are toothed towards the apex. The stiff, golden-brown catkins open in late March, just before the leaves appear, and continue until May, with male and the smaller female flowers usually borne on separate plants. The catkins appear at the tips of twigs of the previous year’s growth. The small, nut-like fruits on the female plants each have two narrow wings to aid wind dispersal and contain a waxy resin to protect the seed if it falls into water.

Bog myrtle is found in wet moorland and heathland, bogs and fens throughout England, although less common in drier parts of the east, up to an altitude of 550 m.

This is an ideal plant for the bog garden, particularly when grown in groups where it will scent the air on a hot day. It grows in sun or partial shade and prefers acid soil, although it will tolerate some calcareous soils, as long as the ground is wet. Nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots enable it to obtain nitrogen from the air so that it can flourish in waterlogged conditions. The plant does not regenerate after cutting and should not be pruned. The simplest method of propagation is by layering in spring, but it can be raised from seed sown in autumn or spring and kept in a cold frame, lined out in autumn and grown on for two years before planting out. Seeds, seedlings and young plants must be kept moist at all times.

The leaves of bog myrtle were once used instead of moth-balls, and sometimes as a substitute for hops in brewing.

Bog myrtle is the food plant of the beautiful brocade, great brocade, dotted clay and rosy marsh moth.

Page last updated - January 10, 2002  

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