''Phillyrea'' is a genus of two species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s in the family

Oleaceae Oleaceae, also known as the olive family, is a taxonomic family of flowering shrubs, trees, and a few lianas in the order Lamiales, It presently comprises 28 genera, one of which is recently extinct.Peter S. Green. 2004. "Oleaceae". pages ...

, native to the

Mediterranean region In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and ...

, and naturalized in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

and

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

. They are

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

shrubs or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s growing to 3–9 m tall, related to '' Ligustrum'', '' Olea'' and '' Osmanthus''. The leaves are in opposite pairs, small, leathery, ovate to lanceolate, 2–6 cm long and 0.5–2 cm broad. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

s are small, greenish-white, produced in short clusters. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

is a

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kerne ...

containing a single seed.

Species

*''

Phillyrea angustifolia ''Phillyrea angustifolia'', the narrow-leaved mock privet,RHS Plants. Available at: https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/24488/i-Phillyrea-angustifolia-i/Details ccessed 22/02/21/ref> is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, nativ ...

'' L. - native to western and central Mediterranean Basin, Portugal to Albania. *''

Phillyrea latifolia ''Phillyrea latifolia'', commonly known as green olive tree or mock privet, is a species of tree in the family Oleaceae. It is native to the Mediterranean Basin In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean R ...

'' L. - native to entire Mediterranean Basin, Portugal to Syria. A third species ''P. decora'' from the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

is now usually treated in the genus '' Osmanthus'' as '' Osmanthus decorus''. Over 200 other names have been proposed over the years, now considered synonyms of existing taxa.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Phillyrea
/ref>

References

Flora Europaea: ''Phillyrea''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1512683 Oleeae Oleaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus