| Phillyrea | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Phillyrea latifolia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Oleaceae |
| Tribe: | Oleeae |
| Subtribe: | Oleinae |
| Genus: | Phillyrea L. |
| Type species | |
| Phillyrea latifolia [1] | |
Phillyrea is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, and naturalized in the Canary Islands and Madeira. [2]
They are evergreen shrubs or small trees growing to 3–9 m tall, related to Ligustrum , Olea and Osmanthus . The leaves are in opposite pairs, small, leathery, ovate to lanceolate, 2–6 cm long and 0.5–2 cm broad. The flowers are small, greenish-white, produced in short clusters. The fruit is a drupe containing a single seed.
A third species P. decora from the Caucasus is now usually treated in the genus Osmanthus as Osmanthus decorus . Over 200 other names have been proposed over the years, now considered synonyms of existing taxa. [2]