Oleaceae

Oleaceae, the olive family, is a diverse group of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. It comprises roughly 24 genera and 600–900 species of woody plants, including trees, shrubs, and occasional climbers. They have a temperate to subtropical distribution, with a center of diversity in East Asia and the Mediterranean region; worldwide they occur in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

Leaves are typically opposite, sometimes whorled; they are simple or compound and may be evergreen or deciduous. Flowers are usually bisexual and actinomorphic, commonly arranged in panicles or spikes. The corolla is often a 4- or 5-lobed tube, with a conspicuous calyx; the fruit is diverse, including drupes (as in Olea), capsules, or schizocarps with winged seeds (as in Fraxinus), and sometimes small berries (as in Ligustrum). Pollination is usually by insects.

Oleaceae includes agriculturally and horticulturally important species. Olea europaea provides olive oil; Fraxinus species provide timber; ornamental genera such as Syringa (lilacs), Osmanthus and Jasminum (jasmine), Forsythia, and Ligustrum are widely cultivated. Some species have become invasive outside their native range.

The family is well defined within Lamiales, and its relationships have been clarified by molecular phylogenetics.