Species
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Myrtus communis L.

Myrtle

Climate known 115 photographs
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Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Myrtus communis, the common myrtle or true myrtle, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. It forms an evergreen shrub.

Text from Wikipedia, “Myrtus communis”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Myrtus

Myrtus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. It was first described by Swedish botanist Linnaeus in 1753.

Text from Wikipedia, “Myrtus”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Myrtaceae
Described by
L.
Native to
Baleares, Corse, France +29
Wild records
1752 in range· 1302 open

At a glance

Warmest month
28°C
Jul, mean day; nights 20 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
735mm/yr
10 wet months · peak Dec 107 mm (CHELSA)
Light
12–47DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: a winter growing season, September to February and April in the northern hemisphere (September to February and April at the habitat, northern). Habitat rain 735 mm a year, wettest December at 107 mm, driest July at 11 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 12 to 47 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 2.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Myrtus buxifolia Raf.; Myrtus communis f. lusitanica (L.) Cout.; Myrtus communis subsp. lusitanica (L.) Arcang.; Myrtus communis var. adrianii Sennen; Myrtus communis var. bercialis Sennen and 19 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: a winter growing season, September to February and April in the northern hemisphere (September to February and April at the habitat, northern).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads a winter growing season: 70% of the year's rain (573 mm of 735 mm) falls in September to February and April, cooler than the year (wet-season mean 13.6 °C against a yearly mean of 16.2 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: March to August and October.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 735 mm a year, wettest December at 107 mm, driest July at 11 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

735 mm a year at the habitat, 573 mm of it September to February and April. Wettest month December at 107 mm, driest July at 11 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 537 mm to 1116 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 12 to 47 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 12 to 47 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 9, the highest 90th-percentile month 51).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 2.7 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 2.7 °C, the absolute minimum -2.1 °C, 13 frost nights in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 32.5 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 5.8 °C in January (across the envelope cells 2.0 °C to 9.7 °C), warmest day 27.7 °C in July (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 2.7 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 56 to 61% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 12 °C in Jan to 28 °C in Jul; mean night from 6 °C in Jan to 20 °C in Aug. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 735 mm of rain a year, most in Dec. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 1318 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -2.1 °C and the 99th-percentile day 32.5 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-10°10°20°30°40°frost32.5° 99th-percentile day (undated)-2.1° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200mm rainDLI 12–47RH 56–61 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 1318 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C12 / 9–1512 / 10–1614 / 12–1917 / 15–2021 / 18–2425 / 22–2928 / 24–3328 / 25–3224 / 22–2820 / 18–2316 / 13–1813 / 10–15
Night °C6 / 2–106 / 2–108 / 5–1110 / 7–1313 / 11–1617 / 14–2020 / 17–2220 / 17–2318 / 14–2014 / 11–1710 / 6–147 / 3–11
Rain mm77 / 48–12861 / 41–10755 / 39–8967 / 45–9949 / 29–7826 / 10–5711 / 2–3821 / 5–5363 / 28–10294 / 62–139104 / 66–164107 / 61–167
DLI14 / 11–1720 / 17–2329 / 25–3236 / 33–3942 / 39–4546 / 42–5047 / 43–5141 / 37–4531 / 28–3622 / 18–2615 / 12–1812 / 9–15
RH %61 / 58–6359 / 57–6259 / 55–6159 / 55–6258 / 53–6257 / 50–6356 / 47–6257 / 49–6259 / 52–6261 / 56–6361 / 58–6461 / 58–64

Each figure is the median across the 1318 grid cells holding the 1735 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1067:3502 (36.625, -4.875). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -2.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 2.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 32.5 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 1318 distinct grid cells holding the 1735 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1067:3502 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 36.50_-5.000, lapse-corrected +302 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 540 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeBaleares, Corse, France, Portugal, Sardegna, Spain, Albania, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Sicilia, Yugoslavia, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Azores, Canary Is., Madeira, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan· introduced: Cape Provinces, California, Texas, Louisiana, Cuba, Leeward Is. AB Ant, Puerto Rico, Windward Is.
Kew's description“shrub or tree” · “subtropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker42.156, 9.381 · in the densest population, 768 records (44% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1752 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 1302 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 9 km away. 21 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 17 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 4° block of the 1752 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Myrtus communisMyrtus communisMyrtus communisMyrtus communisMyrtus communisMyrtus communisMyrtus communisMyrtus communis

Photographs: (c) Thomas Dreux, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) zebedeugalinha, some rights reserved (CC BY) (5).

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Myrtus communis, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Optimization of microwave-assisted extraction of polyphenols from Myrtus communis L. leaves
Farid Dahmoune, Balunkeswar Nayak, Kamal Moussi, Hocine Remini (2014) · Food Chemistry
Antioxidant activities of the essential oils and methanol extracts from myrtle (Myrtus communis var. italica L.) leaf, stem and flower
Wissem Aidi Wannes, Baya Mhamdi, Jazia Sriti, Mariem Ben Jemia (2010) · Food and Chemical Toxicology
Antimicrobial and antioxidative activity of extracts and essential oils of Myrtus communis L.
Verica Aleksić Sabo, Petar Knežević (2013) · Microbiological Research
Biochemical activities of Iranian Mentha piperita L. and Myrtus communis L. essential oils
Davod Yadegarinia, Latif Gachkar, Mohammad Rezaei, Massoud Taghizadeh (2006) · Phytochemistry
Insecticidal Activity of the Essential Oils from Different Plants Against Three Stored-Product Insects
Abdurrahman Ayvaz, Osman Sağdıç, Salih Karabörklü, İsmet Öztürk (2010) · Journal of Insect Science
Insecticidal properties of essential plant oils against the mosquito Culex pipiens molestus (Diptera: Culicidae)
Abdallah F. Traboulsi, K. Taoubi, Samih El‐Haj, J. Bessière (2002) · Pest Management Science
Review of Pharmacological Effects ofMyrtus communisL. and its Active Constituents
G H Alipour, Saeedeh Dashti, Hossein Hosseinzadeh (2014) · Phytotherapy Research
Fungal Planet description sheets: 868–950
P.W. Crous, Angus J. Carnegie, Michael J. Wingfield, Rohit Sharma (2019) · Persoonia - Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi
Protection by Isoprene against Singlet Oxygen in Leaves
Hagit P. Affek, Dan Yakir (2002) · PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
Essential Oil of Myrtus communis L. as a Potential Antioxidant and Antimutagenic Agents
Neda Mimica–Dukić, Dušan Bugarin, Slavenko Grbović, Dragana Mitić-Ćulafić (2010) · Molecules
Inhibition ofα‐Glucosidase by Aqueous Extracts of Some Potent Antidiabetic Medicinal Herbs
Seçil Önal, Suna Tımur, Burcu Okutucu, Figen Zihnioğlu (2005) · Preparative Biochemistry & Biotechnology

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 90 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.