Osmanthus[3] is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the familyOleaceae. 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 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."[5]
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]
The generic name Osmanthus is composed of two parts: the Greek words osma meaning smell or fragrance, and anthos meaning flower.[6][7][8]
Notelaea cymosaGuillaumin (as O. cymosus (Guillaumin) P.S.Green) – New Caledonia
Notelaea monticolaSchltr. (as O. monticola (Schltr.) Knobl.) – New Caledonia
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. aurantiacusMakino (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.
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.[13]
PepsiCo manufactures osmanthus flavored Pepsi for the Chinese domestic market.[14] Similarly, the White Rabbit candy company also manufactures Osmanthus flavoured White Rabbit milk candies which cater to Hong Kong and the Chinese domestic market.[15]
^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)
^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
^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
