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What Is a Myrtle Tree?

By
Judy Kilpatrick
Updated December 17, 2021

Many trees include the word myrtle in their names. All of these trees have lance-shaped leaves and multi-stemmed trunks. Other similarities exist between the trees, but they are distinctly different species. The only true myrtle tree is a large shrub or small tree with the Latin name Myrtus communis. In the Judeo-Christian Bible, myrtle trees signify life and fertility. The myrtle tree referred to in this context is related to the California laurel (Umbellaria californica), also called Oregon myrtle or myrtlewood. Wax myrtle (Myrica spp.) is similar in many ways to the other myrtle species. However, crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia), a popular summer-blooming tree, has many characteristics not common to the other myrtle species

Myrtle communis, the “True” Myrtle
The Florgeous website notes that Myrtle (Myrtus communis) is a small-leaved, aromatic evergreen shrub native to the Mediterranean. It’s sometimes referred to as “common myrtle” or “European myrtle” due to its area of origin. Thriving in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 to 9, myrtle foliage is aromatic and the small, white summer flowers are fragrant. Reaching a height of 15 feet with a spread of 20 feet when fully mature, myrtle bears black berries and can be a specimen plant, topiary, screen or hedge. One myrtle cultivar is Myrtus communis “Variegata,” with white-margined leaves. Subspecies Myrtus communis tarentina includes “Compacta Variegata,” a dwarf variegated shrub, green-leaved dwarfs “Compacta,” “Microphylla,” and “Nana,” with pink flowers and white berries.

California Laurel, or Myrtlewood
California laurel (Umbellaria californica) is native to California coastal regions and Oregon. In the home landscape, California laurel grows to 25 feet tall. As a multi-trunked hardwood tree sometimes grown for its highly decorative wood, California laurel is known by woodcrafters as myrtlewood. Highly aromatic evergreen leaves can be used in place of Laurus nobilis, bay leaf, for seasoning. Because it is often host to a fungus, Phytophthora ramorum, California laurel should not be grown within 35 feet of oak trees along California’s northern coastal range, as various species of oak trees are highly susceptible to this fungus.

Pacific Wax Myrtle
Pacific wax myrtle (Myrica californica) is a Pacific Coast native that lends itself to home landscapes, growing in USDA plant hardiness zones 6 to 9, and attracting birds with its clusters of waxy, purple drupes along stems in fall and winter. Small, aromatic leaves grow on upright stems of this multi-trunked tree, growing up to 30 feet tall in sheltered locations. Pacific wax myrtle grows in humus-rich, moist soil in full sun. Cultivar “Buxifolia” is more compact than the species and has small leaves.

Warm Area Crape Myrtle
Crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia spp.) produce foot-long panicles of frothy, crinkly, crepe-like flowers in mid to late summer in colors ranging from white to purple, lavender, pink or watermelon. The Garden Design website notes that this plant my bloom from July through December, until the first hard frost knocks it back until the following spring. Deciduous foliage turns orange and red in autumn. An all-season’s tree growing in USDA plant hardiness zones 6 to 9, crape myrtle is multi-trunked with distinctive bark, often smooth or twisted, sometimes mottled. It thrives in sun or partial shade.

My yard is surrounded by Crepe Myrtles!.....................