Oleaceae – Olive Family

Oleaceae is commonly known as the olive family and also the lilac family that consists mainly of flowering shrubs and trees. Where would we be without the olive tree and the product of its fruit, olive oil, a staple food in the mediterranean and beyond. There are around 28 genera in the family with some very well known and quite diverse. It is estimated to contain at least 700 species.

The genera include such plants as the olive tree, lilac, privet, jasmine, forsythia, common ash tree. Quite a collection. The other ash, the mountain ash being from the rose family, Rosaceae. Nature is full of surprises.

These plants grow natively across the globe including Australia, Africa, South America and most of the Northern Hemisphere.