bog myrtle

Noun

Synonyms: water shamrock buckbean bogbean bog myrtle marsh trefoil Menyanthes trifoliata

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

perennial plant of Europe and America having racemes of white or purplish flowers and intensely bitter trifoliate leaves; often rooting at water margin and spreading across the surfaceSynonyms: water shamrock buckbean bogbean bog myrtle marsh trefoil Menyanthes trifoliata

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Myrtle \Myr"tle\ (m[~e]r"t'l), n. [F. myrtil bilberry, prop., a little myrtle, from myrte myrtle, L. myrtus, murtus, Gr. my`rtos; cf. Per. m[=u]rd.] (Bot.) A species of the genus Myrtus, especially Myrtus communis. The common myrtle has a shrubby, upright stem, eight or ten feet high. Its branches form a close, full head, thickly covered with ovate or lanceolate evergreen leaves. It has solitary axillary white or rosy flowers, followed by black several-seeded berries. The ancients considered it sacred to Venus. The flowers, leaves, and berries are used variously in perfumery and as a condiment, and the beautifully mottled wood is used in turning. [1913 Webster]

Note: The name is also popularly but wrongly applied in America to two creeping plants, the blue-flowered periwinkle and the yellow-flowered moneywort. In the West Indies several myrtaceous shrubs are called myrtle. [1913 Webster]

Bog myrtle, the sweet gale.

Crape myrtle. See under Crape.

Myrtle warbler (Zool.), a North American wood warbler (Dendroica coronata); -- called also myrtle bird, yellow-rumped warbler, and yellow-crowned warbler.

Myrtle wax. (Bot.) See Bayberry tallow, under Bayberry.

Sand myrtle, a low, branching evergreen shrub (Leiophyllum buxifolium), growing in New Jersey and southward.

Wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera). See Bayberry. [1913 Webster]

bog \bog\ (b[o^]g), n. [Ir. & Gael. bog soft, tender, moist: cf. Ir. bogach bog, moor, marsh, Gael. bogan quagmire.] [1913 Webster]

1.A quagmire filled with decayed moss and other vegetable matter; wet spongy ground where a heavy body is apt to sink; a marsh; a morass. [1913 Webster]

Appalled with thoughts of bog, or caverned pit, Of treacherous earth, subsiding where they tread.— R. Jago.[1913 Webster]

2.A little elevated spot or clump of earth, roots, and grass, in a marsh or swamp. [Local, U. S.] [1913 Webster]

Bog bean. See Buck bean.

Bog bumper (bump, to make a loud noise), Bog blitter, Bog bluiter, Bog jumper, the bittern. [Prov.]

Bog butter, a hydrocarbon of butterlike consistence found in the peat bogs of Ireland.

Bog earth (Min.), a soil composed for the most part of silex and partially decomposed vegetable fiber. --P. Cyc.

Bog moss. (Bot.) Same as Sphagnum.

Bog myrtle (Bot.), the sweet gale.

Bog ore. (Min.) (a) An ore of iron found in boggy or swampy land; a variety of brown iron ore, or limonite. (b) Bog manganese, the hydrated peroxide of manganese.

Bog rush (Bot.), any rush growing in bogs; saw grass.

Bog spavin. See under Spavin. [1913 Webster]

bogbean \bogbean\ n. a perennial plant of Europe and America (Menyanthes trifoliata) having racemes of white or purplish flowers and intensely bitter trifoliate leaves; often rooting at the water margin and spreading across the surface; -- called also bog myrtle, water shamrock and marsh trefoil.

Syn: water shamrock, buckbean, bog myrtle, marsh trefoil. [WordNet 1.5]