Chionanthus retusus

The Chinese fringetree is in the olive or Oleaceae family and is native to eastern Asia (eastern and central China and Taiwan; Japan; and Korea). It is a deciduous small tree growing up to 20 m in height.

• Leaves are opposite, simple, ovate to elliptical, 3–12 cm long, 2–6.5 cm across with a hairy 2–cm petiole, no teeth (except on some younger leaves); leaves are somewhat thick, green above and paler below.
• White flowers with 4 thread-like lobes 2.5 cm long and 3 mm across are produced in panicles 1–1.5 cm long and 0.6–1 cm across, bright green above, whitish-green and downy below. Leaves turn yellow in the fall.
• Female flowers give way to clusters of olive-like fruits up to 1.2 cm across, which ripen to a dark bluish black in late summer and are a good food source for birds and wildlife.
• Exfoliating gray-brown bark is attractive in winter on younger trees, furrowed in older ones.