T r e e s  o f  N o r t h  C a r o l i n a

Osmanthus Lour. (Oleaceae)

A genus of about ten to twenty-five species of shrubs and trees; se. Asia.

Two species occur in North Carolina; neither are considered native to the state.

Key to Osmanthus in North Carolina

1. Leaf margins entire; leaves usually >7 cm long; inflorescence an axillary panicle (with a central axis); [native tree of Coastal Plain forests]...[Cartrema americanus (formerly Osmanthus americanus)]

1. Leaf margins on at least some leaves lobed, the lobes tipped by spines; leaves < 10 cm long; inflorescence an axillary fascicle (lacking a central axis); [horticulturally planted, rarely naturalizing]...2.

2. Leaves on a plant often a mixture of lobed and unlobed, the lobed leaves with sinuses extending < ½ to the midrib...*O. x fortunei (Fortune's osmanthus)

2. Leaves always lobed, the leaf sinuses extending ca. ½ the way to the midrib...*O. heterophyllus (Holly osmanthus)