Osmanthus fragrans

Osmanthus fragrans (Sweet Osmanthus; Chinese: 桂花 guìhuā; Japanese: 金木犀 kinmokusei; also known as Sweet Olive, Tea Olive and Fragrant Olive) is a species of Osmanthus native to Asia, from the Himalaya east through southern China (Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan) and to Taiwan and to southern Japan. Sweet osmanthus is also the 'city flower' of Hangzhou, China.

It is an evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 3–12 m tall. The leaves are 7–15 cm long and 2.6–5 cm broad, with an entire or finely toothed margin.

The flowers are white, pale yellow, yellow, or orange-yellow, small (1 cm long), with a four-lobed corolla 5 mm diameter, and have a strong fragrance; they are produced in small clusters in the late summer and autumn. The fruit is a purple-black drupe 10–15 mm long containing a single hard-shelled seed; it is mature in the spring about six months after flowering.

It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in gardens in Asia, Europe, North America, 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 colour.




Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmanthus_fragrans


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