myrtaceous

[ mur-tey-shuhs ]

adjective

1. belonging to the Myrtaceae, the myrtle family of plants. Compare myrtle family.
2. of, relating to, or resembling the myrtle.

myrtaceous

/ mɜːˈteɪʃəs /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Myrtaceae, a family of mostly tropical and subtropical trees and shrubs having oil glands in the leaves: includes eucalyptus, clove, myrtle, and guava

Word History and Origins

Origin of myrtaceous¹

1825–35; < New Latin Myrtace ( ae ) family name ( New Latin, Latin myrt ( us ) myrtle + -aceae -aceae ) + -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of myrtaceous¹

C19: via New Latin from Latin myrtus myrtle, from Greek murtos

Example Sentences

Anchō′vy-pear, the fruit of a myrtaceous Jamaica tree, pickled and eaten like the East Indian mango, which it much resembles in taste.

From Project Gutenberg

Flowering eucalypts and other myrtaceous plants, with their honey-bearing flowers and usually inedible fruits, are the characteristic Australian trees; so are these birds, depending so largely on the honey of these brilliant flowers and the insects which visit them, the characteristic Australian birds.

From Project Gutenberg

So also the leaves of Boltonia, of Wild Lettuce, and of a vast number of Australian Myrtaceous shrubs and trees, which much resemble the phyllodia of the Acacias of the same country.

From Project Gutenberg

This, though a Myrtaceous plant, has all the habits of the Indian figs, reproducing them in the closest manner.

From Project Gutenberg

Tristania neriifolia.—A myrtaceous plant from Australia, called the turpentine tree, owing to its furnishing a fluid resembling that product.

From Project Gutenberg