Cartrema americana explained

Cartrema americana, commonly called American olive,^[1] wild olive, or devilwood, is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to southeastern North America, in the United States from Virginia to Texas, and in Mexico from Nuevo León south to Oaxaca and Veracruz.^[2]

Cartrema americana was formerly classified as Osmanthus americanus. Following the discovery that Osmanthus was polyphyletic,^[3] it was transferred to the segregate genus Cartrema together with Osmanthus floridanus^[4] and five Asian species.^[5]

Cartrema americana grows to 4-, rarely to 11m (36feet) tall. The leaves are 5- long and 2- broad, with an entire margin. Its flowers, produced in early spring, are small (1 cm long), white, with a four-lobed corolla and have a strong fragrance. The fruit is a globose dark blue drupe 6- diameter, containing a single seed.^{[6] [7] [8]}

It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in gardens for its fragrant flowers.

Notes and References

1. Book: Bailey, L.H. . Bailey, E.Z. . the staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium . 1976 . Hortus third: A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada . Macmillan . New York . 978-0-02-505470-7 . registration .
2. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=355029 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Osmanthus americanus
3. Shi-Quan Guo, Min Xiong, Chun-Feng Ji, Zhi-Rong Zhang, De-Zhu Li and Zhi-Yong Zhang, Molecular phylogenetic reconstruction of Osmanthus Lour. (Oleaceae) and related genera based on three chloroplast intergenic spacers, Plant Syst Evol (2011) 294:57–64
4. Nesom, G.L. 2012. Synopsis of American Cartrema (Oleaceae). Phytoneuron 2012-96: 1–11.
5. José Ignacio De Juana Clavero, Cambios nomenclaturales en la sección Leiolea (Spach) P. S. Green, del género Osmanthus Lour. (Oleaceae), Bouteloua 22: 28-39 (XI-2015)
6. Weaver, R. E. (2003). Botany Section. Tri-ology 42 (6): 1-16 pdf file
7. Centenary College Virtual Arboretum, Louisiana: Osmanthus americanus
8. Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan .