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Osmanthus heterophyllus
Also called Holly Olive, Chinese Holly, False Holly, Prickly Sweet Olive
Holly osmanthus is an evergreen shrub or small tree from eastern Asia, often grown as a hedge, valued for its spiny, holly-like leaves and very fragrant autumn flowers. It is tolerant and easy to grow in most temperate gardens.
Osmanthus heterophyllus (Chinese:t 柊樹, s 柊树, p zhōngshù; Japanese: 柊, hiiragi), variously known as holly osmanthus, holly olive, and false holly, is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to eastern Asia in central and southern Japan (Honshū, Kyūshū, Shikoku, and the Ryukyu Islands) and Taiwan.
It is widely used as a hedge plant. Several cultivars have been selected for garden use, including 'Aureus', 'Goshiki', 'Purpureus', 'Rotundifolius', and 'Subangustatus'. The cultivars 'Goshiki', 'Variegatus' and ‘Purple Shaft’ have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The species has been hybridised in cultivation with Osmanthus fragrans; the resulting hybrid is named Osmanthus × fortunei Carr.
Delavay Teaolive · Sweet osmanthus · Osmanthus suavis · Osmanthus yunnanensis
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Osmanthus heterophyllus 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.
