Greek osme — fragrance, anthos — flower.
Evergreen shrubs or small trees. Leaves opposite, entire, toothed or scalloped, usually leathery and glossy above and spotted below. Flower clusters axillary or occasionally terminal. Flowers bisexual or unisexual, mostly white to yellow. Calyx 4-toothed. Corolla more or less tubular, with 4 lobes. Stamens 2. Fruit a hard-coated and 1-seeded purplish drupe.
Grown for the strong foliage that is useful for hedging and borders, and the exceptionally fragrant flowers.
Semi-hardwood or hardwood cuttings, occasionally by seed.
Leathery evergreen leaves and small axillary clusters of fragrant flowers.
About 15 species from N America, S and E Asia and the Pacific.
Green (1958).
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.