§1 Plant
Myrica gale L.
vernacular sweetgale — species · Myricaceae
§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
· 207 counties across 15 states/territories§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 207 counties across 15 states/territories.
Alaska view state ↗ 20 N ▾
- Anchorage 02020
- Bethel 02050
- Bristol Bay 02060
- Chugach 02063
- Copper River 02066
- Denali 02068
- Dillingham 02070
- Fairbanks North Star 02090
- Haines 02100
- Juneau 02110
- Kenai Peninsula 02122
- Ketchikan Gateway 02130
- Kodiak Island 02150
- Lake and Peninsula 02164
- Matanuska-Susitna 02170
- Northwest Arctic 02188
- Sitka 02220
- Southeast Fairbanks 02240
- Yakutat 02282
- Yukon-Koyukuk 02290
Maine view state ↗ 16 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 44 N ▾
- Alcona 26001
- Alger 26003
- Alpena 26007
- Antrim 26009
- Arenac 26011
- Baraga 26013
- Bay 26017
- Benzie 26019
- Charlevoix 26029
- Cheboygan 26031
- Chippewa 26033
- Clare 26035
- Crawford 26039
- Delta 26041
- Dickinson 26043
- Emmet 26047
- Gogebic 26053
- Grand Traverse 26055
- Houghton 26061
- Huron 26063
- Iosco 26069
- Iron 26071
- Kalkaska 26079
- Keweenaw 26083
- Leelanau 26089
- Luce 26095
- Mackinac 26097
- Manistee 26101
- Marquette 26103
- Mason 26105
- Mecosta 26107
- Menominee 26109
- Midland 26111
- Missaukee 26113
- Montmorency 26119
- Muskegon 26121
- Newaygo 26123
- Oakland 26125
- Ontonagon 26131
- Otsego 26137
- Presque Isle 26141
- Roscommon 26143
- Schoolcraft 26153
- Wexford 26165
Minnesota view state ↗ 9 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 10 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 6 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 34 N ▾
- Bronx 36005
- Cattaraugus 36009
- Cayuga 36011
- Chautauqua 36013
- Clinton 36019
- Columbia 36021
- Cortland 36023
- Dutchess 36027
- Essex 36031
- Franklin 36033
- Fulton 36035
- Hamilton 36041
- Herkimer 36043
- Jefferson 36045
- Lewis 36049
- Madison 36053
- Nassau 36059
- Oneida 36065
- Onondaga 36067
- Orange 36071
- Oswego 36075
- Otsego 36077
- Queens 36081
- Rensselaer 36083
- Rockland 36087
- Saratoga 36091
- St. Lawrence 36089
- Steuben 36101
- Suffolk 36103
- Tioga 36107
- Ulster 36111
- Warren 36113
- Washington 36115
- Wayne 36117
North Carolina view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 13 N ▾
Washington view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 20 N ▾
§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-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z