Interesting Facts
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]
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
(
Notes
Publishing author : Nakai Publication : Nakai & Koidz. Trees & Shrubs Japan Proper, ed. 1 264 (1922), japonice.
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
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Further Reading
- 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.
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 10730216
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15658194
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:610853-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 610853-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1352483
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]
