page_title: Myrica gale
section_title: Uses
hierarchical_section_title: Myrica gale / Uses
caption_attribution_description: Dansk: Mose-Pors (Myrica gale): Blade og hanrakler. English: Myrica gale: Foliage and male catkins.
context_page_description: Myrica gale is a species of flowering plant in the family Myricaceae, native to northern and western Europe and parts of northern North America. Common names include bog-myrtle sweet willow, Dutch myrtle, and sweetgale.
context_section_description: The foliage has a sweet resinous scent and is a traditional insect repellent, used by campers to keep biting insects out of tents. It is also a traditional component of Royal Wedding bouquets and is used variously in perfumery and as a condiment.
  In north-western Europe (Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands), it was much used in a mixture called gruit as a flavouring for beer from the Middle Ages to the 16th century, but it fell into disuse after hops supplanted gruit herbs for political and economic reasons. In modern times, some brewers have revisited this historic technique and in Denmark and Sweden the plant is commonly used to prepare home-flavoured schnaps.
  In some native cultures in Eastern Canada, the plant has been used as a traditional remedy for stomach aches, fever, bronchial ailments and liver problems. "The Creole Doctor", an 1886 article by Lafcadio Hearn, discusses the uses of the plant, known locally as "cirier batard," in Louisiana creole folk remedies. In Scotland it has been traditionally used to ward off the Highland midge, and it is marketed as an insect repellent and as an ingredient in some soaps.
  In 2007 there were plans to increase production of the plant in Scotland for use as an essential oil for treating sensitive skin and acne. The plant has been listed as an abortifacient and therefore should not be consumed by women who are, or might be, pregnant.
  Sweetgale can grow in a narrow band in the intertidal zone, especially if logs have been washed into the estuary on which to establish itself.  It is a favorite food of beavers, and low beaver dams can be found in the intertidal zone if sufficient sweetgale is present.  The ponds thus formed are often completely submerged at high tide but retain enough water at low tide to provide refuge for fish.  If too deep for predation by wading birds juvenile salmon may flourish.
  Queen Victoria was given a sprig of myrtle which she planted on the Isle of Wight. Her daughter used some of the plant that grew in her wedding bouquet, starting a royal tradition.
caption: Male plant with catkins.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2008:08:31 12:14:40", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "188", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5890", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5424", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/20", "EXIF FNumber": "9", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:08:31 12:14:40", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:08:31 12:14:40", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "141621/32768", "EXIF ApertureValue": "1623/256", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "60", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2816", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1880", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5766", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "2816000/877", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "940000/291", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}