Greek chion — snow, anthos — flower.
Deciduous trees or shrubs. Winter buds with pointed scales. Leaves opposite, entire or with toothed margins. Flower clusters terminal, pendulous. Flowers often appearing bisexual but functionally unisexual. Sepals 4. Petals 4, narrow, more or less linear and fused at the base. Stamens 2, short. Fruit a purple 1-seeded drupe.
Seed or layering.
Flowers in loose, long-stemmed clusters, each flower with 4 or 5 long, narrow, pure white petals.
About 120 species, tropical, subtropical and a few in temperate E Asia and E North America.
Source: (2002). Oleaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.