In the Neapolitan dialect “Mortella” is the name of the “divine” or Mediterranean myrtle - Myrtus communis. This plant flourishes in great abundance amongst the hillside rocks, brightening them with its evergreen leaves and graceful white flowers.

The Persians used the myrtle to feed their sacrificial fires and considered it a sacred plant; the tribes of Israel plaited it into funereal crowns; it was sacred to Aphrodite/Venus (according to myth, the goddess hid in a myrtle wood after emerging from the foaming sea).

In Greek and Roman mythology it had several connotations, sometimes representing beauty or virginity, at other times love or pagan fortune.