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Olive family
Oleaceae
モクセイ科
A family including olive, fragrant olive (Osmanthus), lilac, ash, and privet. About 25 genera and 600 species are known, distributed in temperate to tropical regions. Many species have fragrant flowers and are widely used as garden trees and perfumery plants.
Key Characteristics
- ●Flowers 4-merous with petals often fused at the base
- ●Stamens reduced to 2 (exceptionally few among dicots)
- ●Leaves opposite, simple or pinnately compound
- ●Fruits diverse: drupes, samaras, or berries
- ●Many species with aromatic compounds
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate / Opposite
Leaf type
Simple / Compound
Venation
Pinnate / Palmate
Leaf margin
Serrate / Dentate / Entire
Growth form
Shrub / Tree / Vine
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen / Deciduous
Compound type
Ternate / Pinnate
Leaf dissection
Dissected / Undivided
Stipules
Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
Many
Petal fusion
Free / Fused
Ovary position
Superior
Stamen count
3-4
Plant sex
Hermaphrodite / Monoecious
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core eudicots > Lamiales > Oleaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene (ca. 70–60 Ma)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Advanced reduction to 2 stamens (optimization of pollination efficiency)
- ・Maintenance of both wind and insect pollination strategies within the lineage
Plants in Olive family on this site
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