Osmanthus

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Lamiales

Familia: Oleaceae
Tribus: Oleeae
Subtribus: Oleinae
Genus: Osmanthus
Sectiones: O. sect. Linocieroides – O. sect. Microsmanthus – O. sect. Notosmanthus – O. sect. Osmanthus – O. sect. Siphosmanthus
Species

O. armatus – O. attenuatus – O. austrocaledonicus – O. caudatifolius – O. cooperi – O. crassifolius – O. cymosus – O. decorus – O. delavayi – O. didymopetalus – O. enervius – O. fordii – O. fragrans – O. gracilinervis – O. hainanensis – O. henryi – O. heterophyllus – O. insularis – O. lanceolatus –O. monticola – O. pubipedicellatus – O. racemosus – O. reticulatus – O. rigidus – O. serrulatus – O. suavis – O. urceolatus – O. venosus – O. yunnanensis
Nothospecies

O. × burkwoodii – O. × fortunei
Name

Osmanthus Lour.

Type species: O. fragrans Lour.

Synonyms

Heterotypic
× Osmarea C.H.Curtis, Gard. Chron. ser. 3. 89: 438. 1931.
Pausia Raf., Sylva Tell. 9. 1836 publ. Oct-Dec 1838, nom. illeg. non Raf. 1838 (med.).
Siphonosmanthus Stapf, Bot. Mag. 9176. 1929.
Type species: non design.

References

Loureiro, J.de Fl. Cochinch. 17, 28 (1790).
'eFloras 2008. Osmanthus in Flora of China. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
Osmanthus – Taxon details on National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Duftblüten
English: Osmanthus
日本語: モクセイ属
русский: Османтус разнолистный
Tiếng Việt: Chi Mộc tê
中文: 木犀属

Osmanthus /ɒzˈmænθəs/[3] 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.[1][4]

Osmanthus range in size from shrubs to small trees, 2–12 m (7–39 ft) 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.[4]

Species

Species accepted:[1][4]

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-shoto
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-shoto
Osmanthus insularis Koidz. – Korea, Japan, Nansei-shoto, Ogasawara-shoto,
Osmanthus iriomotensis T.Yamaz – Nansei-shoto
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:[2][5]

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-shoto, 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, Pen 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 decorus

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
Main article: Osmanthus fragrans

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 (桂花茶, 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.
References

Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
Nesom, G.L. 2012. Synopsis of American Cartrema (Oleaceae). Phytoneuron 2012-96: 1–11.
Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
Flora of China, v 15 p 286, 木犀属 mu xi shu, Osmanthus Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 1: 28. 1790.
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)