Sardinia is one of the oldest lands of Europe. Its mountains and hills are full of mediterranean vegetation: lentisck, rosemary, arbutus, juniper and myrtle, so much myrtle that there is a popular phrase sayng “Sardinia smells of myrtle!”. Myrtle (Myrtus Comunis), sacred to Venus symbol of beauty and love, is an evergreen plant; it belongs to Myrtaceae family and it is a bush growing till 3 mt high, rich of coriaceous, green, lanceolate leaves.
Flowers have five white petals with pink shading; blooming starts in May and goes on until August, exhaling an aromatic and strong parfume. Fruits, small coriaceous fleshy berries, are dark purple coloured, and their taste is rough and aromatic; maturation starts in November and ends in january.
Fresh wild fruits are eatable and used to aromatize food jointly to branches and leaves used to spice roasts. Up today, berries are utilized in liqueur producing to obtain the famous “Myrtle Liqueur”.