Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Devilwood
Description
Family Oleaceae
Trees
or erect
or scandent
shrubs
. Branches and branchlets
lenticellate
. Leaves opposite, rarely alternate or whorled
, simple
, trifoliolate
, or pinnately compound
, without stipules; venation
pinnate or palmate. Inflorescences terminal
or axillary
, in cymes, panicles, racemes
, umbels, or fascicles. Flowers actinomorphic
, bisexual
, rarely unisexual
or polygamous and plants
monoecious, dioecious, or polygamodioecious. Calyx 4(-16) -lobed or -parted, rarely absent. Corolla 4(-16) -lobed, sometimes almost free
to base
, rarely absent; lobes
sometimes united
in pairs at base or into a very short tube
. Stamens 2(-4), inserted
on corolla tube or hypogynous; anthers
dehiscing longitudinally; pollen 3-colpate or 3-colporate. Ovary superior, 2-loculed; ovules 2 in each locule, sometimes 1 or numerous
. Style 1 or absent; stigma 2-lobed or capitate. Fruit a drupe, berry, capsule, or samara. Seeds with straight embryo, with or without endosperm; radicle curved
upward or downward.
About 28 genera and over 400 species: tropical
, subtropical
, and temperate regions
of world, but mainly in Asia. China has 10 genera and 160 species (95 endemic) and is the center of diversity
for the genera Forsythia, Syringa, Osmanthus, and Ligustrum.
Many genera are important economically: Fraxinus and Forsythia (medicinal, ornamental
) ; Jasminum, Osmanthus, and Syringa (spice, ornamental) ; Olea (oil
) ; and Fraxinus (timber) .[1]
Genus Osmanthus
Shrubs
to small trees
, evergreen
. Leaves opposite, simple
, petiolate
; leaf blade
entire or serrate, usually glandular
dotted
. Inflorescences cymose
, fascicled in leaf axils
or in very short and axillary
or terminal
panicles; bracts 2, united
at base
, usually ciliate
. Flowers bisexual
, usually becoming unisexual
and plants
dioecious or androdioecious
. Calyx campanulate
, 4-lobed. Corolla usually white or yellowish, campanulate, cylindric
, or urceolate
, lobed
, parted
, or divided
almost to base; lobes
4, imbricate in bud. Stamens 2(-4), mostly attached to upper half of corolla tube
; connective
usually minutely mucronate
, elongated, or projecting
. Ovules 2 in each locule, pendulous. Stigma capitate or 2-cleft. Abortive
pistil subulate
or conical
. Fruit a drupe; endocarp hard or bony; endosperm fleshy
; radicle erect
.
About 30 species: SE Asia and America; 23 species in China.
The flowers are fragrant in all species; Osmanthus fragrans is a well-known spice plant.[2]
Physical Description
Habit: Tree , Shrub
Biology
Reproduction
Duration: Perennial
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
)
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
)
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
)
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
)
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
)
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
)
- Brongniart, 1843
- Dicotyledons
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Synonyms
Amarolea megacarpa Small • Osmanthus americanus (L.) Benth. & Hook. F. Ex Gray Var. megacarpus (Small) P. S. Greene • Osmanthus americanus var. megacarpus (Small) P. S. Greene • Osmanthus megacarpus (Small) Small Ex Little
Notes
Basionym
: Oleaceae Amarolea megacarpa Small
Basionym author: (Small)
Basionym: Oleaceae Amarolea megacarpa Small
Basionym author: (Small)
Basionym: Oleaceae Amarolea megacarpa Small
Basionym author: (Small)
Place of publication
: Syn.
fl.
N. Amer. 2(1):78. 1878
Name
verified on 12-Jul-1999 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last
updated: 12-Jul-1999
Similar Species
Members of the genus Osmanthus
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 25 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
O. americanus (American Devilwood) · O. americanus megacarpus (Devilwood) · O. americanus var. americanus (American Devilwood) · O. americanus var. megacarpus (Devilwood) · O. americanus var. microphyllus (Devilwood) · O. decorus (Osmanthus) · O. delavayi (Delavay Osmanthus) · O. fortunei (Fortune`s Osmanthus) · O. fragrans (Fragrant Olive) · O. fragrans 'Aurantiacus' (Fragrant Tea Olive) · O. fragrans 'Conger Yellow' (Conger Yellow Sweet Olive) · O. heterophyllus (False Holly) · O. heterophyllus f. subangustatus (Holly Osmanthus) · O. heterophyllus var. aureus (Holly Osmanthus) · O. heterophyllus var. variegatus (Variegated False Holly) · O. heterophyllus 'Goshiki' (Goshiki False Holly) · O. heterophyllus 'Gulftide' (False Holly) · O. heterophyllus 'Kembu' (False Holly) · O. heterophyllus 'Purpureus' (False Holly) · O. heterophyllus 'Sasaba' (False Holly) · O. heterophyllus 'Variegatus' (Variegated Holly Olive) · O. x burkwoodii (Osmanthus) · O. x fortunei (Fortune's Sweet Olive) · O. x fortunei 'Fruitlandii' (Fortunes Osmanthus) · O. x fortunei 'San Jose' (Fortunes Osmanthus)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Clark, R. C. 1971. The woody plants of Alabama. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 58:230.
- Green, P. S. 1958. A monographic revision of Osmanthus in Asia and America. Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 22:458–464.
- Little, E. L., Jr. 1979. Checklist of United States trees, Agric. Handb. 541. (Trees US)
- Standley, P. C. 1920. Trees and shrubs of Mexico. Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 23:1-1721. (TreesS Mex)
- Chang Mei-chen, Miao Bo-mao, Lu Rui-ling, & Qiu Lian-qing in: Chang Mei-chen & Qiu Lian-qing, eds. 1992. Oleaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 61: 1-222.
- Chang Mei-chen, Miao Bo-mao, Lu Rui-ling, & Qiu Lian-qing in: Chang Mei-chen & Qiu Lian-qing, eds. 1992. Oleaceae. Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 61: 1-222.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
- The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Dec 27, 2011.
- USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (April 30, 2008)
- USDA, NRCS. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 9162931
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-529310
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15936723
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:922441-1
- GRIN Nomen Number: 26118
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 529310
- Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PDOLE0B011
- U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: OSAMM
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 52878
Footnotes
- Mei-chen Chang, Lien-ching Chiu, Zhi Wei & Peter S. Green "Oleaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 15 Page 272. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
- "Osmanthus". in Flora of China Vol. 15 Page 286. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
