Oleaceae

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Oleaceae

The Oleaceae, or olive family, is a plant

Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
containing 24 extant genera

Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
and around 600 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
of mesophytic shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s, tree

TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s and occasionally vine

Vine

A vine is any plant of genus Grape or, by extension, any similar climbing or trailing plant. The word, derived from Latin vinea, referred to the grape-bearing variety....
s. As shrubs, members of this family may be twine

Twine

Twine is a strong thread or string composed of two or more smaller strands or yarns twisted together. More generally, the term can be applied to any thin cord....
climbers, or scramblers.

family is characterized by opposite leaves that may be simple or compound (either pinnate or ternate), without stipule

Stipule

In botany, stipule is a term coined by Carolus Linnaeus which refers to outgrowths borne on either side of the base of a leafstalk . A pair of stipules is considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many species the stipules are inconspicuous or entirely absent ....
. Alternate or whorled arrangements are rarely observed, with some Jasminum species presenting spiral configuration.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Oleaceae'

Start a new discussion about 'Oleaceae'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

The Oleaceae, or olive family, is a plant

Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
containing 24 extant genera

Genus

Species

Shrub

TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s and occasionally vine

Vine

Twine

Twine is a strong thread or string composed of two or more smaller strands or yarns twisted together. More generally, the term can be applied to any thin cord....
climbers, or scramblers.

Description

Leaves

The family is characterized by opposite leaves that may be simple or compound (either pinnate or ternate), without stipule

Stipule

Domatia

Domatia are tiny chambers produced by plants that house arthropods.Domatia differ from galls in that they are produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabitants....
are observed in certain taxa. The leaves may be either deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
or evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
, with evergreen species predominating in warm temperate and tropical regions, and deciduous species predominating in colder regions.

Flower

The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are most often bisexual

Plant sexuality

Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes Morphology aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
and actinomorphic, occurring in panicle

Panicle

A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched Indeterminate growth inflorescence with Pedicel flowers attached along the secondary branches ....
s, raceme

Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate growth and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called Pedicel s — along the axis....
s or panicle

Panicle

A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched Indeterminate growth inflorescence with Pedicel flowers attached along the secondary branches ....
s, and often fragrant. The calyx

Calyx

Calyx or Calyce may refer to:* Calyx , a structural component of the mammalian kidney* Calyx , a UK producer of drum and bass* Calyce , a figure in Greek mythology...
, which may or may not be present, and the corolla are synsepal

Synsepal

A synsepal is a floral structure formed by the partial or complete fusion of two or more sepals. Such sepals are said to be gamosepalous....
ous and four-lobed. The androecium has 2 stamen

Stamen

The stamen is the male organ of a flower. Each stamen generally has a stalk called the filament , and, on top of the filament, an anther , and pollen sacs, called sporangium....
s inserted in the perigynous zone and alternate with the lobes. The stigma

Stigma

Stigma may refer to:In biology:* Stigma , a small spot, mark, scar, or minute hole* In a flower , the stigma is the terminal portion of the gynoecium that has no epidermis and is meant to receive pollen....
s are two-lobed.

The gynoecium

Gynoecium

A gynoecium is the female reproductive part of a flower. The male counterpart is called an androecium. A gynoecium is composed of one or more pistils....
consists of a compound pistil with two carpels. The ovary

Ovary

The ovary is an ovum-producing reproductive organ, often found in pairs as part of the vertebrate female reproductive system. Ovaries in females are homology to testicle in males, in that they are both gonads and endocrine glands....
is superior with two locule

Locule

A locule is a small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism .In plants, the term locule usually refers to a chamber within an Ovary ....
s, each of which bearing two axillary ovule

Ovule

Ovule literally means "small ovum." In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: The integuments forming its outer layer, the nucellus , and the megaspore-derived female gametophyte in its center....
s. Sometimes the base of the ovary is circled by a nectary disk. The plants are most often hermaphrodite

Hermaphrodite

A hermaphrodite is an organism having both male and female reproductive organs. In many species, hermaphroditism is a common part of the life-cycle, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which partners are not separated into distinct male and female types of individual....
but sometimes polygamomonoecious

Plant sexuality

Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes Morphology aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
.

Fruit

Oleaceae fruit can be berries

Berry

In everyday English, a berry is a broad term for any small edible fruit. Most berries are juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, and don't have a stone or pit....
, drupe

Drupe

In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovary....
s, capsules

Capsule (fruit)

In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a dehiscent structure composed of two or more carpels, that, at maturity, split apart to release the seeds within....
or samaras

Samara (fruit)

A samara is a type of fruit in which a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue develops from the ovary wall. A samara is a simple dry fruit and indehiscent ....
.

Uses

Many members of the family are economically significant. The olive

Olive

The Olive is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean region, from Lebanon, Syria and the maritime parts of Turkey and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea....
(Olea europaea) is important for its fruit

Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
and the oil extracted from it, the ashes

Ash tree

Fraxinus is a genus of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The leaf are opposite , and mostly pinnately-compound, simple in a few species....
(Fraxinus) are valued for tough wood

Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
, and forsythia

Forsythia

Forsythia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae . There are about 11 species, mostly native to eastern Asia, but one native to southeastern Europe....
, lilac

Lilac

Syringa is a genus of about 20?25 species of flowering plants in the olive family , native to Europe and Asia.They are deciduous shrubs or small trees, ranging in size from 2?10 m tall, with stems up to 20?30 cm diameter....
s, jasmine

Jasmine

Jasmine is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family ,with about 200 species, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World....
s, osmanthus

Osmanthus

Osmanthus is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, mostly native to warm temperate Asia but one species in North America ....
es, privet

Privet

Privet was originally the name for the European semi-evergreen shrub Ligustrum vulgare, and later also for the more reliably evergreen Ligustrum ovalifolium , used extensively for privacy hedging ....
s, and fringetrees are valued as ornamental plant

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, Plant stem and bark....
s in garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials....
s and landscaping

Landscaping

Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including but not limited to:# living organism, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape....
.