Osmanthus

Osmanthus 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.) with a few species from the Caucasus, New Caledonia, and Sumatra. 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".
Description
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.
Etymology
The generic name Osmanthus is composed of two parts: the Greek words osma meaning smell or fragrance, and anthos meaning flower.
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:
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.
References
External links
Oleaceae genera