Tea Olive – Osmanthus fragrans

Evergreen shrub or small tree growing 3-12 m tall. The leaves are broad, with an entire or finely toothed margin. Flowers are white, yellow, or orange-yellow, small, with a 4-lobed corolla. Very fragrant. Bloom in small clusters in late summer and autumn. Fruit: purple-black drupe containing a single hard-shelled seed. Mature in the spring about 6 months after flowering.

Native to Asia. Cultivated as an ornamental plant in gardens in Asia, Europe, and North America, for its fragrant flowers which carry the scent of ripe peaches or apricots.