{{Short description|Species of flowering plant (bog-myrtle)}} {{speciesbox |image = Gagelstrauch(Myrica gale)female.JPG |image_caption = Foliage and immature fruit |genus = Myrica |species = gale |authority = L. |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = <ref name="Maiz-Tome-2016">{{cite iucn |author=Maiz-Tome, L. |date=2016 |title=''Myrica gale'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T64318305A67730167 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T64318305A67730167.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> |synonyms = ''Gale palustris'' }}
'''''Myrica gale''''' is a species of flowering plant in the family Myricaceae native to cool temperate regions of Eurasia and North America. Common names include '''bog-myrtle''',<ref name="PlantAtlas">{{cite web | title=Bog-myrtle ''Myrica gale'' L. | website=PlantAtlas | url=https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.5eb | access-date=2025-12-29}}</ref> '''sweet gale''',<ref name="E-Flora BC Atlas-2012">{{cite web | title= ''Myrica gale'' L. | website=E-Flora BC Atlas | date=2012-07-01 | url=https://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Myrica%20gale | access-date=2025-12-30}}</ref> '''Dutch myrtle''',<ref>{{Cite book|title=Wild plants of Eastern Canada : identifying, harvesting and using: includes recipes & medicinal uses|author=Walker, Marilyn|date=2008|publisher=Nimbus Pub|isbn=978-1-55109-615-5|location=Halifax, N.S.|oclc=190965401}}</ref> and '''sweetgale'''.<ref>{{PLANTS|id=MYGA|taxon=Myrica gale|accessdate=15 July 2015}}</ref>
==Description== ''Myrica gale'' is an aromatic deciduous shrub growing to {{Convert|2|m|ft|abbr=off|frac=2}} tall, and often forms extensive dense clonal colonies from root suckers.<ref name="BC"/<ref name="PlantAtlas"/><ref name="Francis-Baker-2021">{{Cite book |last=Francis-Baker |first=Tiffany |title=Concise Foraging Guide |date=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4729-8474-6 |series=The Wildlife Trusts |location=London |page=82}}</ref> The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, glaucous grey-green, {{Convert|2–6|cm|abbr=off|frac=4}} long, oblanceolate with a tapered base and broader tip, and a crinkled or finely toothed margin. Flowering is in spring, before the leaves emerge; the flowers are catkins, with the yellowish to orange-brown male catkins, and red to purple female catkins, usually on separate plants (dioecious), but occasionally on the same plant (monoecious), and individual plants may change sex from one year to another.<ref name="Blamey-1989">{{cite book | last1=Blamey | first1=Marjorie | last2=Grey-Wilson | first2=C. | title=The Illustrated Flora of Britain and Northern Europe | publisher=Lubrecht & Cramer Limited | publication-place=London | date=1989-01-01 | isbn=0-340-40170-2 | page=52}}</ref><ref name="Streeter-2010">{{cite book | last=Streeter | first=David | title=Flower Guide | publisher=Collins | publication-place=London | date=2010 | isbn=978-0-00-718389-0 | page=98}}</ref> The fruit is a small, waxy drupe.<ref name="E-Flora BC Atlas-2012"/><ref name="Francis-Baker-2021" /> Main components of essential oils were: 1,8-cineole, α-pinene, limonene, selina-3(7)-diene, and (E)-nerolidol<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344978124_Composition_and_Antimicrobial_Activity_of_Myrica_gale_L_Leaf_and_Flower_Essential_Oils_and_Hydrolates</ref>.The main components found in both leaf and flower essential oils were monoterpene hydrocarbons: α-pinene (12.3, 23.5.%),p-cymene (12.8, 4.9%), and limonene (11.0, 5.6%), respectively.While oxygenated monoterpenes: 1,8-cineole (28.6, 44.2%).<ref>10.25135/rnp.190.20.04.1628</ref>
==Ecology== Use by wildlife: ''Myrica gale'' is eaten in small quantities by birds. It is a favorite food of beavers and provides good habitat for salmon and water birds.<ref>https://nativeplantspnw.com/sweet-gale-myrica-gale/</ref>
<gallery> File:Gagelstrauch wbl.jpg|Female catkins File:Gagelstrauch männlich blühend.jpg|Male catkins File:Myrica-gale-foliage-male-catkins.jpg|Foliage, and male catkins in bud </gallery>
==Uses== 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 Scotland, UK, it has been traditionally used to ward off the Highland midge,<ref name="Kelbie-2007">{{cite news|last=Kelbie|first=Paul|date=12 February 2007|title=Scotland's bog myrtle to fuel second oil boom|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/scotlands-bog-myrtle-to-fuel-second-oil-boom-436096.html|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=10 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522084525/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/scotlands-bog-myrtle-to-fuel-second-oil-boom-436096.html|archive-date=22 May 2008}} Archived</ref> and it is marketed as an insect repellent and as an ingredient in some soaps.<ref name="Evans-2012">{{cite news |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-312742130 |title=It's Not Just about Our Ospreys |last=Evans|first=Emyr |work=Liverpool Daily Post |date=27 September 2012}}{{dead link|date=July 2021}} </ref>
===Food and medicine=== Dried leaves and fruits have been used as a spice in soups and stews and as a flavouring for beer; roots and bark are used as a source of yellow dye for calfskin and wool; <ref>Karolina Wawrzyńczak et al. Biotechnol Food Sci, 2019, 83 (1), 87-96 http://www.bfs.p.lodz.pl 88</ref> catkins and fruits as a source of wax for candles; and leaf and fruit infusions as an insecticide. It has been also used in traditional medicine as a remedy for stomach and cardiac disorders.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344978124_Composition_and_Antimicrobial_Activity_of_Myrica_gale_L_Leaf_and_Flower_Essential_Oils_and_Hydrolates</ref>
Its volatile oil also has a role in resistance to fungal pathogens.<ref>Carlton, R.R., Waterman, P.G., Gray, A.I. et al. The antifungal activity of the leaf gland volatile oil of sweet gale (Myrica gale) (Myricaceae). Chemoecology 3, 55–59 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01261457</ref>
The leaves can be dried to make tea, and both the nutlets and leaves can be used (either chopped or dried) to make a seasoning.<ref name="Francis-Baker-2021" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Elias|first1=Thomas S.|title=Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods|last2=Dykeman|first2=Peter A.|publisher=Sterling|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4027-6715-9|location=New York|page=176|oclc=244766414|orig-date=1982}}</ref>
In northwestern 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gale (Myrica gale L.)|url=http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Myri_gal.html|access-date=10 February 2014|work=Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages}}</ref><ref>Justyna, Wubs-Mrozewicz (2005). ''Hopped Beer as an innovation; The Bergen Beer Market around 1200-1600 in the European Context''. H. Brand (ed.) Trade, Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange, (2005) pp. 152-168</ref> 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.<ref>Patrick E. McGovern, Gretchen R. Hall, Armen Mirzoian, "[https://www.academia.edu/43367436/A_biomolecular_archaeological_approach_to_Nordic_grog A biomolecular archaeological approach to Nordic grog]" in ''Danish Journal of Archaeology'' (2013) pp. 112-131, see p. 124</ref>
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.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
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.<ref name="Kelbie-2007" /> The plant has been listed as an abortifacient and therefore should not be consumed by people who are, or might be, pregnant.<ref>{{cite web|title=Myrica gale|url=http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Myrica+gale|access-date=10 February 2014|publisher=Plants For A Future}}</ref>
==In culture== Queen Victoria was given a sprig of bog-myrtle which she planted on the Isle of Wight. Her daughter used some myrtle from this plant in her wedding bouquet, starting a royal tradition.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 July 2020 |title=Princess Beatrice's Wedding Echoed Meghan and Kate's in a Sweet Way |url=https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a33382549/princess-beatrice-wedding-bouquet-meghan-markle-kate-middleton/}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q161681}}
gale Category:Flora of Canada Category:Flora of Europe Category:Flora of the Northern United States Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Dioecious plants