Osmanthus Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607 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, Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, etc.) with a few species from the Caucasus, New Caledonia, and Sumatra.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Osmanthus has been known in China since ancient times with the earliest writings coming from the Warring States period; the book Shanhai Jing: Nanshan Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas: Classic of the Southern Mountains) states: "The first peak of the Que Mountain range is Mount Zhaoyao, rising by the western sea, where many osmanthus trees grow, and where rich veins of metals and jade lie hidden."《南山经》·《山海经》(Classic of Mountains and Seas: Classic of the Southern Mountains)
Description Osmanthus range in size from shrubs to medium-sized 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.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.<
Osmanthus armatus Diels – Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan Osmanthus attenuatus P.S.Green – Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan Osmanthus austrozhejiangensis – Zhejiang Osmanthus cooperi Hemsl. – Anhui, Fujian, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang 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), 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 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
Garden hybrids Osmanthus × burkwoodii (Burkwood & Skipwith) P.S.Green (O. delavayi × O. decorus) 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 Vol. 436 No. 3: 19 March 2020. pp. 283–292. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.436.3.6 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 Cartrema americana (as O. americanus (L.) A.Gray) – Devilwood – southeastern US from Texas to Virginia; eastern and southern Mexico Cartrema floridana (as O. floridanus Chapm.) - Florida Cartrema scortechinii (as O. scortechinii King & Gamble) – Thailand, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia Cartrema sumatrana (as O. sumatranus ) – Sumatra Chengiodendron marginatum (as O. marginatus (Champ. ex Benth.) Hemsl.) – Nansei Islands, Taiwan, Vietnam, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang Chengiodendron matsumuranum (as O. matsumuranus Hayata) – Assam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang Chengiodendron minor (as O. minor P.S.Green) – Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Zhejiang Notelaea austrocaledonica (as O. austrocaledonicus (Vieill.) Knobl.) – New Caledonia Notelaea cymosa (as O. cymosus (Guillaumin) P.S.Green) – New Caledonia 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 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 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 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. Similarly, the White Rabbit candy company also manufactures Osmanthus flavoured White Rabbit milk candies which cater to Hong Kong and the Chinese domestic market.
References