Olea

Olea is a genus of about 40 species in the family Oleaceae, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Middle East, southern Europe, Africa, southern Asia, and Australasia. They are evergreen trees and shrubs, with small, opposite, entire leaves. The fruit is a drupe. Leaves of Olea contain trichosclereids.
For humans, the most important and familiar species is by far the olive (Olea europaea), native to the Mediterranean region, Africa, southwest Asia, and the Himalayas, which is the type species of the genus. The native olive (O. paniculata) is a larger tree, attaining a height of 15–18 m in the forests of Queensland, and yielding a hard and tough timber. The yet harder wood of the black ironwood O. capensis, an inhabitant of Natal, is important in South Africa.
Olea species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including double-striped pug.
Species
Species accepted:
Olea ambrensis H.Perrier - Madagascar
Olea borneensis Boerl. - Borneo, Philippines
Olea brachiata (Lour.) Merr. - Guangdong, Hainan, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Anambas Islands
Olea capensis L. – Small Ironwood - Comoros, Madagascar; Africa from South Africa north to Ethiopia, Sudan, Zaire, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, etc
Olea capitellata Ridl. - Pahang
Olea caudatilimba L.C.Chia - Yunnan
Olea chimanimani Kupicha - Chimanimani Mountains of Mozambique and Zimbabwe
Olea cordatula H.L.Li - Vietnam
Olea dioica Roxb. - India, Bangladesh, Myanmar
Olea europaea L. – Olive - Mediterranean, Africa, southwestern Asia, Himalayas; naturalized many other places
Olea exasperata Jacq. - South Africa
Olea gagnepainii Knobl. - Thailand, Laos
Olea gamblei C.B.Clarke - Sikkim
Olea hainanensis H.L.Li - Vietnam, Laos, Guangdong, Hainan
Olea javanica (Blume) Knobl. - Philippines, western Indonesia
Olea lancea Lam. - Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues Island
Olea laxiflora H.L.Li - Yunnan
Olea moluccensis Kiew - Maluku
Olea neriifolia H.L.Li - Hainan
Olea palawanensis Kiew - Palawan
Olea paniculata R.Br. - Yunnan, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Kashmir, Malaysia, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu
Olea parvilimba (Merr. & Chun) B.M.Miao - Hainan, Vietnam
Olea polygama Wight - India, Sri Lanka
Olea puberula Ridl. - Peninsular Malaysia
Olea rosea Craib - Yunnan, Thailand
Olea rubrovenia (Elmer) Kiew - Borneo, Philippines
Olea salicifolia Wall. ex G.Don - Assam, southern China, Indochina
Olea schliebenii Knobl. - Tanzania
Olea tetragonoclada L.C.Chia - Guangxi
Olea tsoongii (Merr.) P.S.Green - Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Sichuan, Yunnan
Olea welwitschii (Knobl.) Gilg & G.Schellenb. - central and eastern Africa from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe
Olea wightiana Wall. ex G.Don - India
Olea woodiana Knobl. - South Africa, Eswatini, Kenya, Tanzania
Olea yuennanensis Hand.-Mazz. - China
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 (Hook.f.) L.A.S.Johnson (as O. cunninghamii Hook.f.)
Noronhia emarginata (Lam.) Thouars (as O. emarginata Lam.)
Osmanthus americanus (L.) Benth. & Hook.f. ex A.Gray (as O. americana L.)
Osmanthus heterophyllus (G. Don) P.S.Green (as O. aquifolium Siebold & Zucc. or O. ilicifolia Siebold ex Hassk.)
List source :
References
Oleaceae genera
Lamiales of Asia