Osmanthus is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae. Most of the species are native to eastern Asia (China, Japan, Korea, Indochina, the Himalayas, etc.),and was originally found in the middle east of the Himalayas, with a few species from the Caucasus, New Caledonia, and Sumatra. Osmanthus has been known in China since ancient times with the earliest writings coming from the Warring States period; the book Sea and Mountain. South Mountain states: "Zhaoyao Mountain had a lot of Osmanthus". Osmanthus range in size from shrubs to small trees, tall. The leaves are opposite, evergreen, and simple, with an entire, serrated or coarsely toothed margin. The flowers are produced in spring, summer or autumn, each flower being about 1 cm long, white, with a four-lobed tubular-based corolla ('petals'). The flowers grow in small panicles, and in several species have a strong fragrance. The fruit is a small (10–15 mm), hard-skinned dark blue to purple drupe containing a single seed. Species Species accepted: Osmanthus armatus Diels – Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan Osmanthus attenuatus P.S.Green – Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan Osmanthus austrocaledonicus (Vieill.) Knobl. – New Caledonia Osmanthus cooperi Hemsl. – Anhui, Fujian, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang Osmanthus cymosus (Guillaumin) P.S.Green – New Caledonia Osmanthus decorus (Boiss. & Balansa) Kasapligil – Caucasian osmanthus – Turkey, Caucasus Osmanthus delavayi Franch. – Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan Osmanthus didymopetalus P.S.Green – Guangdong, Hainan Osmanthus enervius Masam. & T.Mori – Taiwan, Nansei Islands Osmanthus fordii Hemsl. – Guangdong, Guangxi Osmanthus fragrans Lour. – Sweet osmanthus, sweet olive, fragrant tea olive – Himalayas (northern and eastern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam), Indochina (Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam), Japan, China (Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Sichuan), Taiwan Osmanthus gracilinervis L.C.Chia ex R.L.Lu – Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang Osmanthus hainanensis P.S.Green – Hainan Osmanthus henryi P.S.Green – Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan Osmanthus heterophyllus (G.Don) P.S.Green – Holly osmanthus, holly olive, false holly, mock holly, hiiragi – Japan, Taiwan, Nansei Islands Osmanthus insularis Koidz. – Korea, Japan, Nansei Islands, Ogasawara Islands, Osmanthus iriomotensis T.Yamaz – Nansei Islands Osmanthus kaoi (T.S.Liu & J.C.Liao) S.Y.Lu – Taiwan Osmanthus lanceolatus Hayata – Taiwan Osmanthus monticola (Schltr.) Knobl. – New Caledonia Osmanthus pubipedicellatus L.C.Chia ex H.T.Chang – Guangdong Osmanthus reticulatus P.S.Green – Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Sichuan Osmanthus rigidus Nakai – Kyushu Osmanthus serrulatus Rehder in C.S.Sargent – Sichuan Osmanthus suavis King ex C.B.Clarke in J.D.Hooker – Assam, Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkim, Myanmar, Yunnan, Tibet Osmanthus