Myrtle

Description

Fruity and balsamic, delicious aroma to refresh woody and flowery fragrances.

Myrtle (Myrtus Comunis), a symbol of beauty and love, is an evergreen plant; it belongs to the Myrtaceae family and it is a bush growing to 3 mt high, rich in coriaceous, green, lanceolate leaves. Flowers have five white petals with pink shading; blooming starts in May and goes on until August, exhaling an aromatic and strong perfume. Fruits, small coriaceous fleshy berries, are dark purple-colored, and their taste is rough and aromatic; maturation starts in November and ends in January.

Fresh wild fruits are eatable and used to aromatize food jointly with branches and leaves used to spice roasts.

The wonderfully scented plant was considered an aphrodisiac, known to appear in wedding crowns for the bride or the groom. In the Greco-Roman world, myrtle in laurels or crowns was sometimes presented to poets, woven into garlands of honor for athletic prizes, and worn to sacrifices and banquets. As opposed to laurel wreaths, myrtle signified victory from a bloodless battle. 

Myrtle is widely used in bouquets for weddings and special occasions, such as Valentine’s Day, to symbolize love, beauty, and loyalty. Throughout Europe and the Middle East, the folklore associated with myrtle refers to a common symbolism of romance, devotion, beauty, and love.

Myrtle in the Bible:  myrtle is one of the four plants used to make the sukkot, which the Jews used to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and commemorate the days when they lived in huts (sukkot) during their wanderings in the wilderness.

Myrtle symbolizes success and the eternity of life: “If you dream about myrtle, your property will prosper, and, if you don’t have property, you will inherit property” (Berachot 57: 1). In Judaism it is customary to bless on wine and myrtle in the circumcision, and redemption of the firstborn.