Osmanthus

Today, Osmanthus is a topic of great relevance and interest to a wide range of audiences. Whether it is a person, an event, a trend or a historical event, Osmanthus has captured the attention of individuals of all ages and backgrounds. This article explores in detail the importance and impact of Osmanthus in today's society, highlighting its implications and influence on various aspects of everyday life. From its origin to its evolution over time, Osmanthus has left a significant mark on the contemporary world, and this article seeks to analyze its relevance in depth.

Osmanthus
Osmanthus heterophyllus in flower
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Tribe: Oleeae
Subtribe: Oleinae
Genus: Osmanthus
Lour.
Synonyms[1][2]
  • Pausia Raf.
  • Siphonosmanthus Stapf

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, Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, etc.) with a few species from the Caucasus, New Caledonia, and Sumatra.[1][4] 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 medium-sized 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]

Etymology

The generic name Osmanthus is composed of two parts: the Greek words osma meaning smell or fragrance, and anthos meaning flower.[5][6][7]

Species

26 species are accepted.[8][4]

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,[2][9] Chengiodendron,[10] and Notelaea.[11]

  • Cartrema americana (L.) G.L.Nesom (as O. americanus (L.) A.Gray) – Devilwood – southeastern US from Texas to Virginia; eastern and southern Mexico
  • Cartrema floridana (Chapm.) G.L.Nesom (as O. floridanus Chapm.) - Florida
  • Cartrema scortechinii (King & Gamble) de Juana (as O. scortechinii King & Gamble) – Thailand, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia
  • Cartrema sumatrana (P.S.Green) de Juana (as O. sumatranus P.S.Green) – Sumatra
  • Chengiodendron marginatum (Champ. ex Benth.) C.B.Shang, X.R.Wang, Yi F.Duan & Yong F.Li (as O. marginatus (Champ. ex Benth.) Hemsl.) – Nansei Islands, Taiwan, Vietnam, Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang
  • Chengiodendron matsumuranum (Hayata) C.B.Shang, X.R.Wang, Yi F.Duan & Yong F.Li (as O. matsumuranus Hayata) – Assam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang
  • Chengiodendron minor (P.S.Green) C.B.Shang, X.R.Wang, Yi F.Duan & Yong F.Li (as O. minor P.S.Green) – Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Zhejiang
  • Notelaea austrocaledonica Vieill. (as O. austrocaledonicus (Vieill.) Knobl.) – New Caledonia
  • Notelaea cymosa Guillaumin (as O. cymosus (Guillaumin) P.S.Green) – New Caledonia
  • Notelaea monticola Schltr. (as O. monticola (Schltr.) Knobl.) – New Caledonia

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 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 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.[12]

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.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ^ a b Nesom, G.L. 2012. Synopsis of American Cartrema (Oleaceae). Phytoneuron 2012-96: 1–11.
  3. ^ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
  4. ^ a b c Flora of China, v 15 p 286, 木犀属 mu xi shu, Osmanthus Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 1: 28. 1790.
  5. ^ Evans, Linsay (2021-07-29). "Osmanthus Flower Meaning and Symbolism". Petal Republic. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
  6. ^ Dehgan, Bijan (2023-04-05). Garden Plants Taxonomy: Volume 2: Angiosperms (Eudicots). Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-031-11565-3.
  7. ^ Gledhill, D. (2008-03-06). The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86645-3.
  8. ^ <"Osmanthus Lour". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  9. ^ 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)
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ 龙梅梅Longmeimei (2024-06-30). The Most Anticipated Fruit in Every September - Chestnuts. Retrieved 2024-07-03 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ "Multinational firms are finding it hard to let go of China". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
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