Myrtus communis L.
الياس، الآس
For people
- Eaten by people
- Edible
- Toxic to people
- Not toxic
For livestock
- Grazed by livestock
- Limited fodder
- Toxic to livestock
- Unknown
Edibility and safety notes
The ripe blue-black berries are eaten raw, dried or cooked (aromatic and astringent rather than sweet), and the leaves, flower buds and dried berries are used as a flavouring, like bay leaf, and for the Sardinian liqueur mirto. No hazards are recorded for these food uses, but the concentrated essential oil should not be swallowed. Livestock mostly leave this strongly aromatic shrub alone (the Omani field guide calls it non-pastoral), although goats browse it in the Mediterranean; a feeding trial with lambs found raised liver enzymes at 5% myrtle leaf in the diet, so it is not a fodder plant.
This guide is a hobby project, not expert advice. Never eat a wild plant, or feed it to animals, on the strength of this page alone. Read the disclaimer
Description
An evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 5 m tall. Leaves are 2-5 cm long, fragrant with essential oils. White or pink-tinged flowers with five petals and many protruding stamens. Fruit is an edible blue-black berry when ripe.
Habitat
Mediterranean woodland, scrub and maquis and along stream banks; in Oman along wadi watercourses and around terraced orchards in the northern mountains.
Distribution
Macaronesia and the Mediterranean region east through western Asia to Pakistan, and from Eritrea and Ethiopia to Yemen and Saudi Arabia; widely cultivated. In Oman it is recorded on Jabal Akhdar (around Sayq and Wadi Bani Habib).
Pastoral value
Not significant as livestock fodder.
Other uses
Berries eaten fresh or dried as aromatic food flavoring. Leaves used in traditional medicine and cooking. Used to produce the aromatic liqueur Mirto in Sardinia and Corsica. Essential oil extracted for perfumery. Widely cultivated as an ornamental and hedge plant. Culturally significant as a symbol of love in wedding traditions.
Sources
- الدليل الحقلي المصور للنباتات البرية في سلطنة عُمان (BOOK.pdf p.143)
- Useful Temperate Plants (Ken Fern) — Myrtus communis — temperate.theferns.info
- Wikipedia — Myrtus — en.wikipedia.org
- Plants of the World Online — Myrtus communis L. (native range; seen in search results) — powo.science.kew.org
- GBIF occurrences of Myrtus communis in Oman (10 records: Sayq, Wadi Bani Habib, Wadi Qatam; Edinburgh and Kew herbaria) — api.gbif.org
- Feeding trial of myrtle leaves in Kermani lambs (Iranian veterinary journal; seen in search results) — vj.areeo.ac.ir
- PFAF: Myrtus communis — pfaf.org
- Wikipedia: Myrtus communis — en.wikipedia.org
- Feedipedia search: no entry for Myrtus communis — feedipedia.org