Osmanthus armatus

The holly olive is in the olive or Oleaceae family and is a dense, upright-rounded, bushy, broadleaf evergreen shrub that typically grows to 2.8–5 m tall with a spread up to 3 m, but occasionally rises as a small tree to as much as 9 m in height. It is native to thickets and rocky areas on lower alpine slopes in western China (Hubei and Sichuan).

• Leaves are opposite (unlike the lollies which are alternate), very leathery, oblong-lanceolate, 7.5–14 cm log and 2.1–3.7 cm wide, abruptly narrowed to the rounded or slightly heart-shaped base, taper-pointed, coarsely toothed, with up to 10 teeth per side, the teeth triangular, 3–4 mm long, with spiny points, or entire, colour dark dull green; petiole is 3–4 mm long, reddish.
• Creamy white flowers are sweetly aromatic, tubular, tiny, with spreading lobes to 0.6 cm across, blooming in the fall in small auxiliary clusters in the leaf-axils.
• Fruit is a 1-seeded egg-shaped drupe 2.1 cm long, ripening in April (about 6 months after flowering), but are often not produced in cultivation.