sweet gale

American  

noun

1. an aromatic shrub, Myrica gale, of marshes, having lance-shaped leaves and yellowish fruit.

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sweet gale British  

noun

1. Often shortened to: gale.  Also called: bog myrtle.  a shrub, Myrica gale, of northern swamp regions, having yellow catkin-like flowers and aromatic leaves: family Myricaceae

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Etymology

Origin of sweet gale

First recorded in 1630–40

Example Sentences

The popular name of a plant, also known as the sweet gale or gaul, sweet willow, bog or Dutch myrtle.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various

The sweet gale, Myrica Gale, and the sage, Salvia officinalis, were also similarly employed.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 6 "Home, Daniel" to "Hortensius, Quintus" by Various

II Death, death is the gloomy shore Where we all sail— Soft, soft, thou gliding oar; Blow soft, sweet gale!

From Last Days of Pompeii by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

It is a shrub much like our sweet gale in Europe, and its leaves are very odorous, and, even when dried, retain their fragrance. 

From An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal And of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of Gorkha by Hamilton, Francis

The sweet gale next appears on its borders, and drift-wood, much of it rotten and comminuted, is thrown up on the exterior bank, together with some roots and stems of larger trees.

From The International Monthly Magazine, Volume 5, No. 1, January, 1852 by Various