Olea woodiana

Forest olive
In the KwaZulu-Natal Botanical Garden
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Olea
Species: O. woodiana
Knobl.
Binomial name
Olea woodiana

Olea woodiana, known commonly as the forest olive or black ironwood (Afrikaans: Bosolienhout), is an African tree species belonging to the olive family (Oleaceae).[1]

The tree grows in lower altitude hill forests from Kenya, Tanzania, Swaziland, and South Africa.[2][3]

Description

Olea woodiana is a medium-sized to tall tree.[4] The axillary or terminal inflorescences carry small white flowers that are fragrant.[5]

Fruit are produced from late summer.[4] They are oval-shaped and ripen to a purple black colour, when they are consumed by birds.[4]

Subspecies

There are two recognized subspecies:[3]

References

  1. "Botanische Jahrbücher fur Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie.". v.17 (1893). 1893.
  2. "Olea woodiana Knobl.". GRIN Taxonomy for Plants. Germplasm Resources Information Network. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  3. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Olea woodiana
  4. 1 2 3 "Olea woodiana". Witbos inheemse kwekery. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  5. Encyclopedia of Life treatment: ''Olea woodiana . accessed 2.2.2013
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