Myrtus communis (Bekele-Tesemma, 2007)
From PlantUse English
| Myrtus communis (Bekele-Tesemma, 2007) |
Myrtus communis Myrtaceae Indigenous
Common names
- English: Common myrtle, Myrtle bush
- Amargna: Ades
- Gamogna: Ades
- Oromugna: Addisa, Qodo
Ecology
A shrub that grows in Moist and Wet Kolla and Weyna Dega agroclimatic zones in Gonder, Harerge, Welo and Shoa, 700– 2,500 m.
Uses
Flavouring, perfume, incense (smoke used for pleasant scent in rooms, especially during the traditional coffee ceremony).
Description
A leafy evergreen shrub 3–5 m high.
- LEAVES: Simple and opposite, leathery and shiny, oval and sharply tipped to 5 cm long, the base rounded. When crushed sweet-scented oil is released from special cells.
- FLOWERS: Sweet scented, white with 5 petals around many white stamens, to 3 cm across.
- FRUIT: A rounded blueblack berry, 1 cm or less.
Propagation
Seedlings, cuttings.
Seed
Treatment: Not necessary.
Management
Coppicing to encourage branching and more leaf production.
Remarks
Widely cultivated since ancient times. In Ethiopia it is used for perfuming butter to be used in hair dressing, as an additive to ‘injera’, a local bread made from tef.
