Index / Search / Myrica gale

§1 Plant

Myrica gale L.

vernacular sweetgale — species · Myricaceae


USDA
MYGA
GBIF
5414202
Rank
species
sweetgale (Myrica gale)
Platephotograph · Michele GrabkeCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Myricaceae Rich. ex Kunth
Genus
Myrica
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Native
  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Native
§2b

County-level range

· 4 counties across 1 state
Legend Native · 4 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
Low
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
95 min.
Precipitation
30–50 in/yr
pH range
5–7.8
Root depth
14 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
6 ft
Height @ 20 y
7 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Gray-Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Blue
Fruit colour
Blue
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
Low
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Spring
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 4 counties across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/MYGA ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5414202 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z