''Olea'' ( ) is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the family

Oleaceae Oleaceae, also known as the olive family or sometimes the lilac 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. Gree ...

. It includes 12 species native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Middle East, southern

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, southern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, and

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. They are

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

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, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s and

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s, with small, opposite, entire

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

. The

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

is a

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

. Leaves of ''Olea'' contain

trichosclereid Trichosclereids are hard needlelike branched cells found in some species of plants that serve the purpose of protecting the plant from herbivores. They are usually approximately 6 mm (1/4 inch) long, but in some species they grow to as long ...

s. For humans, the most important and familiar species is by far the

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

(''Olea europaea''), native to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

region, Africa, southwest Asia, and the Himalayas,Altevista Flora Italiana, Oleastro, ''Olea europaea'' L.
/ref> which is the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of the genus. The native olive (''O. paniculata'') is a larger tree, attaining a height of 15–18 m in the forests of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, and yielding a hard and tough

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

. The yet harder wood of the black ironwood ''O. capensis'', an inhabitant of

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

, is important in South Africa. ''Olea'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species including

double-striped pug The double-striped pug (''Gymnoscelis rufifasciata'') is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is a widespread and common species, being found throughout the Palearctic region, including the Near East and North Africa. This is a variable species ...

Species

12 species are currently accepted: # ''

Olea capensis ''Olea capensis'', the black ironwood, is an African tree species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa: from the east in Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan, south to the tip of South Africa, and west to Cameroon, Sierra ...

'' L. – Small Ironwood – Comoros, Madagascar; Africa from South Africa north to Ethiopia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, etc. # '' Olea capitellata'' Ridl. – Pahang # '' Olea chimanimani'' Kupicha –

Chimanimani Mountains The Chimanimani Mountains are a mountain range on the border of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The mountains are in the southern portion of the Eastern Highlands, or Manica Highlands, a belt of highlands that extend north and south along the internatio ...

of Mozambique and Zimbabwe # ''

Olea europaea The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of subtropical evergreen tree in the family Oleaceae. Originating in Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean Basin, with wild subspecies in Africa ...

'' L. – Olive – Mediterranean, Africa, southwestern Asia, Himalayas; naturalized many other places # '' Olea exasperata'' Jacq. – South Africa # '' Olea lancea'' Lam. – Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues Island # ''

Olea luzonica ''Olea'' ( ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae. It includes 12 species native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Middle East, southern Europe, Africa, southern Asia, and Australasia. They are evergreen trees and sh ...

'' Kiew – Philippines (Luzon) # ''

Olea paniculata ''Olea'' ( ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae. It includes 12 species native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Middle East, southern Europe, Africa, southern Asia, and Australasia. They are evergreen trees and sh ...

'' R.Br. – Yunnan, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Kashmir, Malaysia, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu # '' Olea puberula '' Ridl. – Peninsular Malaysia # '' Olea schliebenii'' Knobl. – Tanzania # ''

Olea welwitschii ''Olea welwitschii'', the Elgon teak, is a species of tree in the family Oleaceae. It ranges across parts of subsaharan Africa, from Cameroon in the west to Ethiopia and Kenya in the east, and south to Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique. It is a fore ...

'' (Knobl.) Gilg & G.Schellenb. – central and eastern Africa from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe # '' Olea woodiana'' Knobl. – South Africa, Eswatini, Kenya, Tanzania

Formerly placed here

*'' Chionanthus foveolatus'' (E.Mey.) Stearn (as ''O. foveolata'' E.Mey.) * ''Ligustrum compactum'' var. ''compactum'' (as ''O. compacta'' Wall. ex G.Don) *''

Nestegis cunninghamii ''Notelaea cunninghamii'', commonly called black maire, is a native tree of New Zealand. ''Notelaea cunninghamii'' grows to over 20 metres high, and has long, leathery leaves that have a recessed mid-rib. The tree has rough, cork-like bark, and ...

'' (Hook.f.) L.A.S.Johnson (as ''O. cunninghamii'' Hook.f.) *''

Noronhia emarginata ''Noronhia emarginata'' (Madagascar olive; syn. ''Olea emarginata'' Lam.) is a species of ''Noronhia'' native to Madagascar, now naturalized on Mauritius, Réunion and Bermuda.Madagascar Catalogue''Noronhia emarginata''/ref> It is an evergreen ...

'' (Lam.) Thouars (as ''O. emarginata'' Lam.) *''

Osmanthus americanus ''Cartrema americana'', commonly called American olive, wild olive, or devilwood, is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to southeastern North America, in the United States from Virginia to Texas, and in Mexico from Nuevo León south to Oax ...

'' (L.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex A.Gray (as ''O. americana'' L.) *''

Osmanthus heterophyllus ''Osmanthus heterophyllus'' ( Chinese: t , s , p ''zhōngshù''; , ''Hiiragi''), variously known as holly osmanthus, holly olive, and false holly, is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to eastern ...

'' (G. Don) P.S.Green (as ''O. aquifolium'' Siebold & Zucc. or ''O. ilicifolia'' Siebold ex Hassk.) * ''

Tetrapilus borneensis ''Tetrapilus borneensis'' is a species of flowering plants in the olive family, Oleaceae. It grows as a tree up to tall, with a trunk diameter of up to . The bark is whitish or light grey. The flowers are white or yellowish-green. Fruit ripens ...

'' (as ''Olea borneensis'' Boerl.) * '' Tetrapilus brachiatus'' (as ''Olea brachiata'' (Lour.) Merr.) * '' Tetrapilus rubrovenius'' (as ''Olea rubrovenia'' (Elmer) Kiew) * '' Tetrapilus tsoongii'' (as ''Olea tsoongii'' (Merr.) P.S.Green and ''Olea yuennanensis'' Hand.-Mazz.) : List source :

References

{{Authority control Oleaceae genera Lamiales of Asia