Biology:Chionanthus ramiflorus

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Short description: Species of plant in the family Oleaceae

Chionanthus ramiflorus
Chionanthus ramiflorus Roxb..jpg
Flowers and leaves
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Chionanthus
Species:
C. ramiflorus
Binomial name
Chionanthus ramiflorus
Roxb.
Synonyms[2]

Chionanthus ramiflorus, commonly known in Australia as northern olive or native olive, is a species of plants in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native to India , Nepal, northeastern Australia (Queensland), New Guinea, the Philippines , southern China and Taiwan.[3][4][1]

They grow as evergreen shrubs or trees to 3–23 m (10–75 ft) tall. The leaves are 8–20 cm (3–8 in) long and 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) broad, simple ovate to oblong-elliptic, with a 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) petiole. The flowers are white or yellow, produced in panicles 2.5–12 cm (1.0–4.7 in) long. The fruit is a blue-black drupe 1.5–3 cm (0.6–1.2 in) long and 0.5–2.2 cm (0.2–0.9 in) diameter.[3][5]

Sometimes the species is treated in the segregate genus Linociera, though this does not differ from Chionanthus in any character other than leaf persistence, not a taxonomically significant character.[6]

The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia' records that "The fruit of this plant is the food of the jagged-tailed bower-bird (Preonodura Neivtoniana). (Bailey.) This observation is interesting, and is the more valuable in that the vegetable foods of our indigenous fauna have very rarely been botanically determined. This plant is not endemic to Australia. Queensland."[7]

References

Cited works

  • Chang, Mei-chen; Chiu, Lien-ching; Wei, Zhi; Green, Peter S. (2008). Wu, Z. Y.; Raven, P. H.. eds. Flora of China. 15 (Myrsinaceae through Loganiaceae). Beijing and St. Louis, MO: Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. 

Wikidata ☰ Q5101416 entry