Osmanthus [ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607] is a genus of about 30 species of in the family Oleaceae. Most of the species are native to eastern Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, etc.) with a few species from the Caucasus, New Caledonia, and Sumatra.[ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families][
《南山经》·《山海经》(Classic of Mountains and Seas: Classic of the Southern Mountains)
]
Description
Osmanthus range in size from
to medium-sized
, tall. The
leaf are opposite,
evergreen, and simple, with an entire, serrated or coarsely toothed margin. The
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
, 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. ]
Etymology
The generic name
Osmanthus is composed of two parts: the Greek words
osma meaning smell or fragrance, and
anthos meaning flower.
Species
26 species are accepted.
[<]
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Osmanthus armatus Diels – Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan
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Osmanthus attenuatus P.S.Green – Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan
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Osmanthus austrozhejiangensis – Zhejiang
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Osmanthus cooperi Hemsl. – Anhui, Fujian, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang
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Osmanthus decorus (Boiss. & Balansa) Kasapligil – Caucasian osmanthus – Turkey, Caucasus
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Osmanthus delavayi Franch. – Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan
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Osmanthus didymopetalus P.S.Green – Guangdong, Hainan
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Osmanthus enervius Masam. & T.Mori – Taiwan, Nansei-shoto
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Osmanthus fordii Hemsl. – Guangdong, Guangxi
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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
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Osmanthus gracilinervis L.C.Chia ex R.L.Lu – Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang
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Osmanthus hainanensis P.S.Green – Hainan
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Osmanthus henryi P.S.Green – Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan
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Osmanthus heterophyllus (G.Don) P.S.Green – Holly osmanthus, holly olive, false holly, mock holly, hiiragi – Japan, Taiwan, Nansei-shoto
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Osmanthus insularis Koidz. – Korea, Japan, Nansei Islands, Ogasawara-shoto,
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Osmanthus iriomotensis T.Yamaz – Nansei Islands
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Osmanthus kaoi (T.S.Liu & J.C.Liao) S.Y.Lu – Taiwan
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Osmanthus lanceolatus Hayata – Taiwan
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Osmanthus pubipedicellatus L.C.Chia ex H.T.Chang – Guangdong
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Osmanthus reticulatus P.S.Green – Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan
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Osmanthus rigidus Nakai – Kyushu
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Osmanthus serrulatus Rehder in C.S.Sargent – Sichuan
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Osmanthus suavis King ex C.B.Clarke in J.D.Hooker – Assam, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, Myanmar, Yunnan, Tibet
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Osmanthus urceolatus P.S.Green - Sichuan, Hubei
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Osmanthus venosus Pamp. – Hubei
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Osmanthus yunnanensis (Franch.) P.S.Green – Yunnan, Tibet
Garden hybrids
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Osmanthus × burkwoodii (Burkwood & Skipwith) P.S.Green ( O. delavayi × O. decorus)
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Osmanthus × fortunei Carrière ( O. fragrans × O. heterophyllus)
Formerly placed here
Species formerly in
Osmanthus are now placed in other genera including
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)] Chengiodendron,
[Yong-Fu Li, Min Zhang, Xian-Rong Wang, Steven Paul Sylvester, Qi-Bai Xiang, Xuan Li, Meng Li, Hong Zhu, Cheng Zhang, Lin Chen, Xian-Gui Yi, Ling-Feng Mao, Yi-Fan Duan (2020) Revisiting the phylogeny and taxonomy of Osmanthus (Oleaceae) including description of the new genus Chengiodendron. Phytotaxa
]
/ref> and Notelaea.[Julia Dupin, Cynthia Hong-Wa, Yohan Pillon, Guillaume Besnard. From the Mediterranean to the Pacific: re-circumscription towards Notelaea s.l. and historical biogeography of a generic complex in Oleinae (Oleaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, In press, 10.1093/botlinnean/boac024.hal-03633162]
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Cartrema americana (as O. americanus (L.) A.Gray) – Devilwood – southeastern US from Texas to Virginia; eastern and southern Mexico
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Cartrema floridana (as O. floridanus Chapm.) - Florida
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Cartrema scortechinii (as O. scortechinii King & Gamble) – Thailand, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia
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Cartrema sumatrana (as O. sumatranus ) – Sumatra
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Chengiodendron marginatum (as O. marginatus (Champ. ex Benth.) Hemsl.) – Nansei Islands, Taiwan, Vietnam, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang
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Chengiodendron matsumuranum (as O. matsumuranus Hayata) – Assam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang
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Chengiodendron minor (as O. minor P.S.Green) – Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Zhejiang
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Notelaea austrocaledonica (as O. austrocaledonicus (Vieill.) Knobl.) – New Caledonia
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Notelaea cymosa (as O. cymosus (Guillaumin) P.S.Green) – New Caledonia
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Notelaea monticola (as O. monticola (Schltr.) Knobl.) – New Caledonia
Cultivation
Osmanthus are popular shrubs in parks and gardens throughout the warm temperate zone. Several hybrids and 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 var. aurantiacus (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 combines sweet osmanthus flowers with black tea 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 whose name translates to "Forest of Sweet Osmanthus".
Chinese osmanthus dishes also include a steamed bread made from blended rice and wheat flour and chestnuts boiled with dried osmanthus flowers.
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 manufactures osmanthus flavored Pepsi for the Chinese domestic market.
