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Osmanthus fragrans
Also called Fragrant Olive, Sweet Olive, Tea Olive, Fragrant Olive, Sweet Olive, Tea Olive
Sweet osmanthus is a fragrant evergreen shrub or small tree from subtropical Asia, grown for its tiny, intensely scented flowers that smell of peaches or apricots. It does best in mild climates with good light and moist, well-drained soil.
Osmanthus fragrans (lit. 'fragrant osmanthus') is a species of flowering plant in the family Oleaceae. In English, it is sometimes referred to by the common names sweet osmanthus, sweet olive, tea olive, and fragrant olive. It is native to Assam, Cambodia, China, the Himalayas, Hainan, Japan, Myanmar, Taiwan, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. In China it grows in the provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan, Hainan, and Yunnan.
In China, it is the "city flower" of the cities of Hangzhou, Zhejiang; Suzhou, Jiangsu; and Guilin, Guangxi. In Japan, it is the "city tree" of Kitanagoya, Aichi Prefecture; Kashima, Saga Prefecture; Beppu, Ōita Prefecture; and the "town tree" of Yoshitomi, Fukuoka Prefecture.
It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in East Asian gardens, and gardens in Europe, North America, Australia and elsewhere in the world for its deliciously fragrant flowers which carry the scent of ripe peaches or apricots. A number of cultivars have been selected for garden use, with varying flower colors, such as Osmanthus fragrans 'Yanhua' with its variegated foliage and orange blooms. Within Japan, the white- and orange-blossoming subspecies are distinguished as ginmokusei (lit. "silver osmanthus") and kinmokusei (lit. "gold osmanthus"), respectively.
Delavay Teaolive · Holly osmanthus · Osmanthus suavis · Osmanthus yunnanensis
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Osmanthus fragrans by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
