Osmanthus delavayi

Delavay species

OleaceaeOsmanthus

The Delavay osmanthus is in the olive or Oleaceae family, is from the Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan regions of southern China, and is widely cultivated as an ornamental in temperate and subtropical zones elsewhere. It is an evergreen shrub reaching 2.8–6 m in height.

  • Leaves are leathery, densely packed, ovate or oval, 1.3–2.5 cm long and 0.6–1.3 cm wide, tapered about equally at both ends, dark glossy green above, dotted with tiny dark spots beneath; leaves with short stalks.
  • Flowers are fragrant, white and in terminal and axillary clusters of 4–8; the corolla has a cylindrical tube 1.3 cm long, spreading at the mouth into 4 reflexed oblong lobes totalling 1.3 cm across.
  • Fruit is egg-shaped, blue-black.

Contributors

  • Philippe de Spoelberch