Osmanthus

''Osmanthus'' ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae. Most of the species are native to eastern Asia ( China, Japan, Korea, Indochina, the Himalayas, etc.),and was originally found in the middle east of the Himalayas, with a few species from the Caucasus, New Caledonia, and Sumatra.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Osmanthus has been known in China since ancient times with the earliest writings coming from the Warring States period; the book ''Sea and Mountain. South Mountain'' states: "Zhaoyao Mountain had a lot of Osmanthus".

''Osmanthus'' range in size from shrubs to small trees, tall. The leaves are opposite, evergreen, and simple, with an entire, serrated or coarsely toothed margin. The flowers are produced in spring, summer or autumn, each flower being about 1 cm long, white, with a four-lobed tubular-based corolla ('petals'). The flowers grow in small panicles, and in several species have a strong fragrance. The fruit is a small (10–15 mm), hard-skinned dark blue to purple drupe containing a single seed.Flora of China, v 15 p 286, 木犀属 mu xi shu, ''Osmanthus'' Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 1: 28. 1790.
/ref>

Species

Species accepted:
# ''Osmanthus armatus'' Diels – Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan
# ''Osmanthus attenuatus'' P.S.Green – Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan
# ''Osmanthus austrocaledonicus'' (Vieill.) Knobl. – New Caledonia
# ''Osmanthus cooperi'' Hemsl. – Anhui, Fujian, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang
# ''Osmanthus cymosus'' (Guillaumin) P.S.Green – New Caledonia
# '' Osmanthus decorus'' (Boiss. & Balansa) Kasapligil – Caucasian osmanthus – Turkey, Caucasus
# '' Osmanthus delavayi'' Franch. – Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan
# '' Osmanthus didymopetalus'' P.S.Green – Guangdong, Hainan
# '' Osmanthus enervius'' Masam. & T.Mori – Taiwan, Nansei Islands
# ''Osmanthus fordii'' Hemsl. – Guangdong, Guangxi
# ''Osmanthus fragrans'' Lour. – Sweet osmanthus, sweet olive, fragrant tea olive – Himalayas (northern and eastern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam), Indochina (Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam), Japan, China (Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Sichuan), Taiwan
# '' Osmanthus gracilinervis'' L.C.Chia ex R.L.Lu – Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang
# '' Osmanthus hainanensis'' P.S.Green – Hainan
# ''Osmanthus henryi'' P.S.Green – Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan
# '' Osmanthus heterophyllus'' (G.Don) P.S.Green – Holly osmanthus, holly olive, false holly, mock holly, hiiragi – Japan, Taiwan, Nansei Islands
# ''Osmanthus insularis'' Koidz. – Korea, Japan, Nansei Islands, Ogasawara Islands,
# '' Osmanthus iriomotensis'' T.Yamaz – Nansei Islands
# ''Osmanthus kaoi'' (T.S.Liu & J.C.Liao) S.Y.Lu – Taiwan
# '' Osmanthus lanceolatus'' Hayata – Taiwan
# '' Osmanthus monticola'' (Schltr.) Knobl. – New Caledonia
# '' Osmanthus pubipedicellatus'' L.C.Chia ex H.T.Chang – Guangdong
# '' Osmanthus reticulatus'' P.S.Green – Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan
# '' Osmanthus rigidus'' Nakai – Kyushu
# ''Osmanthus serrulatus'' Rehder in C.S.Sargent – Sichuan
# '' Osmanthus suavis'' King ex C.B.Clarke in J.D.Hooker – Assam, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, Myanmar, Yunnan, Tibet
# ''Osmanthus urceolatus'' P.S.Green - Sichuan, Hubei
# ''Osmanthus venosus'' Pamp. – Hubei
# '' Osmanthus yunnanensis'' (Franch.) P.S.Green – Yunnan, Tibet

;
Species transferred to ''Cartrema'':Nesom, G.L. 2012. Synopsis of American ''Cartrema'' (Oleaceae). Phytoneuron 2012-96: 1–11.José Ignacio De Juana Clavero, Cambios nomenclaturales en la sección Leiolea (Spach) P. S. Green, del género Osmanthus Lour. (Oleaceae), Bouteloua 22: 28-39 (XI-2015)
# '' Osmanthus americanus'' (L.) A.Gray – Devilwood – southeastern US from Texas to Virginia; eastern and southern Mexico
# '' Osmanthus floridanus'' Chapman - Florida
# '' Osmanthus marginatus'' (Champ. ex Benth.) Hemsl. – Nansei Islands, Taiwan, Vietnam, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang
# ''Osmanthus matsumuranus'' Hayata – Assam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang
# '' Osmanthus minor'' P.S.Green – Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Zhejiang
# '' Osmanthus scortechinii'' King & Gamble – Thailand, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia
# '' Osmanthus sumatranus'' P.S.Green – Sumatra

;Garden hybrids
*''Osmanthus × burkwoodii'' (Burkwood & Skipwith) P.S.Green (''O. delavayi'' × ''O. decorus'')
*''Osmanthus × fortunei'' Carrière (''O. fragrans'' × ''O. heterophyllus'')

Cultivation

''Osmanthus'' are popular shrubs in parks and gardens throughout the warm temperate zone. Several hybrids and cultivars have been developed. ''Osmanthus'' flower on old wood and produce more flowers if unpruned. A pruned shrub often produces few or no flowers for one to five or more years, before the new growth matures sufficiently to start flowering.

In Japan, Osmanthus fragrans Lour. var. aurantiacus Makino (fragrant orange-colored olive) (''kin-mokusei'') is a favorite garden shrub. Its small deep golden flowers appear in short-stalked clusters in late autumn. It has an intense sweet fragrance. A variant with white flowers (''gin-mokusei'') is also popular.

Uses

The flowers of ''O. fragrans'' are used throughout East Asia for their scent and flavour, which is likened to apricot and peach.

In China, osmanthus tea (, ''guìhuāchá'') combines sweet osmanthus flowers with black or green tea leaves. In Liuzhou, it is used to flavor a locally brewed beer.
Sweet osmanthus and osmanthus tea are particularly associated with the city of Guilin (桂林, literally "Forest of Sweet Osmanthus").

Osmanthus wine is prepared by infusing whole ''Osmanthus fragrans'' flowers in huangjiu or other types of rice wine and is traditionally consumed during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

PepsiCo makes Osmanthus flavored Pepsi for the Chinese domestic market (ref: The Economist, November 2022)

References

External links

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{{Authority control

Oleaceae genera