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Portrait of Bog myrtle

Nature · Shrubs

Bog myrtle

Native · deciduous, to 1.5 m · catkins Apr · wet heath and bog

Myrica gale — Myricaceae

Bog myrtle, or sweet gale, is a small aromatic shrub of wet heath, blanket bog and fen, most at home in the wet oceanic west and in Scotland. Crush a leaf and it gives off a powerful resinous scent, which Highlanders rubbed on skin to keep off midges. It was used to flavour ale before hops, and it fixes nitrogen with root nodules, a rare talent in a bog.

How to spot them

  • ▸Small, branching shrub with dark reddish-brown stems and grey-green, oblong leaves broader towards the tip, dotted with yellow resin glands
  • ▸Upright catkins in April on bare twigs, red-brown, male and female usually on separate plants
  • ▸A powerful, resinous, sweet scent when the leaves are crushed or brushed
  • ▸Wet heath, blanket bog and damp open ground with moving water, most abundant in the north and west
  • ▸Look-alikes: small willows share the wet habitat but lack the resin dots and the sweet, resinous scent, which is the quickest test

How to know it

Crush a leaf of this small bog shrub and it gives off a strong resinous scent that Highlanders used to keep off midges

Bog myrtle — Myrica gale.

Brewers used it to flavour ale before hops became common, in a mixture known as gruit

Bog myrtle, also called sweet gale.

Its scientific species name derives from an Anglo-Saxon word for the plant, 'gagel'

Bog myrtle — Myrica gale.

Root nodules containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria let it flourish in acid, nutrient-poor peat

Bog myrtle.

Red catkins open in April on bare twigs, and individual plants may change sex from year to year

Bog myrtle — mostly dioecious.

It is the plant badge of Clan Campbell

Bog myrtle — Clan Campbell's badge.

Quick-fire facts

  • •Myrica gale, family Myricaceae; also called sweet gale, the specific name coming from Old English gagol or German gagel (BSBI)
  • •A small deciduous shrub usually to 1.5 m, occasionally 2.5 m; leaves 2 to 6 cm with yellowish resin glands (BSBI)
  • •Crushed leaves smell resinous; the oil paralyses midges and repels ants (BSBI)
  • •Mostly dioecious, but some plants are monoecious, and individuals may switch sex from one year to the next (BSBI)
  • •Annual nitrogen-fixing root nodules let it grow in acid soil as low as pH 3.8 (BSBI)
  • •Grows on wet heaths, blanket bogs and fens in oceanic climates, concentrated in the north and west, especially Scotland
  • •Used to flavour beer before hops, for candle wax and as an insect repellent (Wildlife Trusts)
  • •The Clan Campbell plant badge is usually given as bog myrtle

Drill it — 7 cards

1 / 7new card

Sources