''Osyris'' is a genus of plants in the family

Santalaceae The Santalaceae, sandalwoods, are a widely distributed family of flowering plants (including small trees, shrubs, perennial herbs, and epiphytic climbersHewson & George t al.br>''Santalaceae'' taxonomy, 1984, pp. 191-194.) which, like other membe ...

, one of the many genera known as sandalwoods, but not one of the true

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

. The species of this genus are mostly

hemiparasitic A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

, meaning although they can survive and grow by themselves, they also opportunistically tap into the root systems of nearby plants and parasitize them. Selected species: *''

Osyris alba ''Osyris alba'', common name osyris, is a small perennial plant in the genus '' Osyris'' belonging to the Santalaceae family. Description ''Osyris alba'' is a semiparasitic (hemiparasitic) broom-like shrub reaching in height.Pignatti S. - Flor ...

'' – common name osyris *''

Osyris daruma ''Osyris daruma'' is a species of plant in the family Santalaceae. The name of ''Osyris daruma'' is derived from the Greek word ozos which means branches, as this tree is bushy in nature and multi stemmed. The name is related to the coastal spec ...

'' *''

Osyris compressa ''Osyris compressa'' (Cape sumach or ''pruimbos'') is a facultatively hemiparasitic, mainly South African plant of the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. Until recently, the favoured binomial name was ''Colpoon compressum'', but around 2001, the g ...

'' – Cape sumach or pruimbos *''

Osyris lanceolata ''Osyris lanceolata'', also known as African sandalwood or Camwood, is used for its scented wood and to extract essential oil. The hemi-parasitic plant is found from South Africa to Zimbabwe and east Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda ...

'' – African

*''

Osyris quadripartita ''Osyris quadripartita'', commonly known as wild tea plant, is a hemiparasitic plant found in Mediterranean habitats. It is a dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual or ...

'' – wild tea plant *''

Osyris tenuifolia ''Osyris'' is a genus of plants in the family Santalaceae, one of the many genera known as sandalwood (disambiguation), sandalwoods, but not one of the true sandalwood. The species of this genus are mostly hemiparasitic, meaning although they can ...

'' - east African sandalwood

References

* Santalales genera {{Santalales-stub