Myrica gale L.
sweet gale (sweetgale)
Myricaceae (Bayberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
sweet gale (sweetgale)
Myricaceae (Bayberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Shrub, 0.5-2 m tall, spreading by suckers; stems spreading, finely hairy when young, glabrous at maturity, loosely branched, bark dark reddish.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, oblanceolate to more oblong, 3-6 cm long, up to 2 cm wide, entire to coarsely few-toothed above the middle, hairy on both surfaces or rarely glabrous below, strongly dotted with yellow wax-glands, rounded to blunt, aromatic.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of male and female flowers in spikes on separate plants; male catkins 1-2 cm long, the male flowers with 3-5 stamens, the filaments shorter than the anthers; female spikes 1 cm long, crowded, bractlets flattened, fused with the pistil at the base and longer than the subtending bract, yellow-waxy.
Fruits:
Nutlets, 2.8-3 mm long, cone-like, glabrous except for wax glands.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Blue
Blooming Period:
Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Blue
Present over the Spring
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Myrica gale
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
192 | 0 | 1420 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
3 | 0 | 45 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
300 | 5 | 350 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
6 | 1 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
210 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(19), CDF(10), CWH(179), SBS(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Swamps, bogs, fens, lakeshores and estuary edges in the lowland and montane zones; common in coastal BC, rare in SC and NE BC; circumboreal, N to AK, YT and NT, E to NF and S to MN, TN, NC and OR; Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Gale palustris A. Chev.
Myrica gale var. subarctica Rouss.
Myrica gale var. subglabra (A. Chev) Fernald
Myrica gale var. tomentosa C. DC.