Oleaceae
English: Olive family
Dutch: Olijffamilie
The Oleaceae is a family of trees and shrubs comprising about 25 genera and 600 species. They are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical regions and include important trees such as ashes, olives, and ornamental shrubs like lilacs.
Key Identifying Features
- Leaves: Simple or pinnately compound, opposite, often with entire margins
- Flowers: Small, usually in clusters, with 4 petals (or absent in some species)
- Fruits: Winged samaras (ashes), drupes (olives), or capsules (lilacs)
- Bark: Variable; deeply furrowed and ridged in mature ashes
Parent: Plantae