Alt: Photo with POV looking down on the shoots of this plant with opposite leaves. Each leaf is three-lobed, and each lobe ends in a spine tip.
Many leaves (or parts of leaves, such as the leaf tip or leaf margin) are modified into sharp defensive armaments. Modified leaves or leaf parts are spines. This Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Sasaba' has wonderfully spiny foliage. 📷: Arb O'Retum CCBYNCSA2. #Oleaceae #spine #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Fraxinus excelsior L.
#botany #Oleaceae #taxonomy #plantsci #Lankester #PlantBlindnesss #PlantAwareness #angiosperms #biodiversity #nature #science
@universidadoviedo.bsky.social
@uodivulga.bsky.social
Two creamy white flowers are open and surrounded by several unopened flower buds. Green foliage forms the background
This jasmine is a messy grower but the scent of the flowers means it's a keeper
#Jasminum sambac
#Oleaceae
#sydney #garden #BalconyGarden #FlowerReport #flowers #UrbanGarden #UrbanPlanting🌱
Photo of a jar of grilled olives.
Sampling this in honor of World Olive Day! How are you celebrating? #Olea #Oleaceae #WorldOliveDay #olive
See the paper on this work here, published in @currentbiology.bsky.social:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Thanks for hosting him, Polina Yu. Novikova @raphmercier.bsky.social Dpt.
#PlantScience #Oleaceae #SelfIncompatibility #PlantReproduction #PlantGenetics #PlantDevelopment
Photo of a leafy shoot and infructescence. The fruits are black and fleshy. Jasminum dichotomum by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.
Fruit types & dispersal modes in #Oleaceae are diverse. Drupes are the rule in Oleeae + Ligustrum & Syringa, but Fraxinus & Fontanesia have samaras, Schrebera & Forsythia have capsules & winged seeds, Myxopyrum & Jasminum have berry-like fruits. 📷: J. dichotomum #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪
Close-up photo of the small, 4-parted, white flowers of T. dioica. Satish Nikam CCBYNC2
Olea s.l. is not monophyletic. Many spp. are isolated from O. europaea, the type species of Olea. Tretrapilus Lour. (1790) was resurrected by de Juana for Asian spp., but it may be polyphyletic by including T. caudatilimbus. 📷: T. dioicus by Satish Nikam CCBYNC2 #Oleaceae
Photo of an inflorescence subtended by pinnate leaves. The flowers are actinomorphic and white with a red “eye.” Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2
The subtribes of tribe Oleeae are (Schreberinae, (Ligustrinae, (Fraxininae, Oleinae))). Schrebera has 16 spp from tropical Africa, Madagascar, southern Asia, and Borneo, but 1 species occurs in Peru! #Oleaceae #distribution 📷: Schrebera alata of Africa. Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2
Map of the Greater Antilles with drawings of the leaves of seven taxa tied to their type localities. NB: I recognized only 3 taxa.
My interest in Oleaceae goes way back to the time I did a morphometric analysis of leaf shape in the Caribbean endemic genus Haenianthus. My tragically overlooked & uncited paper is here:
doi.org/10.1139/b91-066 #Oleaceae #Haenianthus #Caribbean #botany
Photo of a shrub in habitat. The leaves are elliptical. There are clusters of small, 4-parted, white flowers. Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2
Osmanthus is a polyphyletic genus. One clade comprises Nestegis (5 spp.), Notelaea (12 spp.), & : Osmanthus austrocaledonicus, which should be removed from Osmanthus s.l. If this clade is treated as one genus, Notelaea has priority. #Oleaceae #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪 doi.org/10.1186/s129...
Photo of a leafy branch bearing full clusters of white flowers with long, narrow petals.
The other endemic #Oleaceae from the #Scrub is Chionanthus pygmaeus. It is a small tree (hence the epithet) with white, showy flowers just like the more widespread C. virginicus but with larger fruits. #Florida : L.W. Ridge CCBYNC4 #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪
Photo of a leafy branch bearing globose, purple-black fruits. The white sand scrub is visible in the background.
One of two endemic Oleaceae in the Scrub, Cartrema floridana (which I learned in the 20th century as Osmanthus megacarpus; #Oleaceae) has fruits that are larger than Cartrema americana, which is widespread in the SE USA. #Scrub #Florida 📷: L.W. Ridge CCBYNC4 #Botany #PlantScience 🌾🧪
