Chionanthus ramiflorus

Chionanthus ramiflorus
File:Chionanthus ramiflorus Roxb..jpg
Flowers and leaves
Conservation status
Data Deficient Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Oleaceae
Genus:	Chionanthus
Species:	C. ramiflorus
Binomial name
Chionanthus ramiflorus Roxb.
Synonyms
44 synonyms Linociera ramiflora (Roxb.) Wall. Mayepea ramiflora (Roxb.) F.Muell. Chionanthus effusiflorus F.Muell. Chionanthus intermedius (Wight) F.Muell. Chionanthus macrophyllus (Wall. ex G.Don) Blume Chionanthus macrophyllus var. attenuatus (Wall. ex G.Don) K.K.N.Nair & K.P.Janardh. Chionanthus palembanicus Miq. Chionanthus paniculatus (Roxb.) K.K.N.Nair & K.P.Janardh. Chionanthus paniculatus var. roxburghii (Spreng.) K.K.N.Nair & K.P.Janardh. Chionanthus pauciflorus (Wall. ex G.Don) Bennet & Raizada Chionanthus pauciflorus var. evolutior (C.B.Clarke) K.K.N.Nair & K.P.Janardh. Chionanthus pauciflorus var. palembanicus (Miq.) Bennet & Raizada Chionanthus picrophloius F.Muell. Chionanthus ramiflorus var. grandiflorus B.M.Miao Chionanthus ramiflorus var. palembanicus (Miq.) P.Daniel Chionanthus ramiflorus var. peninsularis K.Ravik. & Lakshm. Chionanthus roxburghii (Spreng.) S.K.Srivast. & S.L.Kapoor Chionanthus roxburghii var. intermedius (Wight) S.K.Srivast. & S.L.Kapoor Chionanthus tenuiflorus Wall. ex DC. Linociera cumingiana S.Vidal Linociera effusiflora F.Muell. Linociera intermedia Wight Linociera intermedia var. roxburghii (Spreng.) C.B.Clarke Linociera macrophylla Wall. ex G.Don Linociera macrophylla var. attenuata (Wall. ex G.Don) C.B.Clarke Linociera oblonga Wall. ex G.Don Linociera pauciflora (Wall. ex G.Don) C.B.Clarke Linociera pauciflora var. evolutior C.B.Clarke Linociera pauciflora var. palembanica (Miq.) C.B.Clarke Linociera picrophloia (F.Muell.) F.M.Bailey Linociera ramiflora var. grandiflora (B.M.Miao) B.M.Miao Linociera ramiflora f. pubisepala L.C.Chia Mayepea cumingiana (S.Vidal) Merr. Mayepea intermedia (Wight) Kuntze Mayepea palembanica (Miq.) Kuntze Mayepea pauciflora (Wall. ex G.Don) Kuntze Mayepea picrophloia (F.Muell.) F.Muell. Olea attenuata Wall. ex G.Don Olea floribunda Benth. Olea paniculata Roxb. Olea pauciflora Wall. ex G.Don Olea roxburghiana Schult. Olea roxburghii Spreng. Phillyrea ramiflora Roxb. ex C.B.Clarke

Chionanthus ramiflorus, commonly known in Australia as northern olive or native olive, is a species of plant in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native to India, Nepal, Queensland (Australia), New Guinea, the Philippines, southern China and Taiwan.

They grow as evergreen shrubs or trees to 3–23 m (10–75 ft) tall. The leaves are 8–20 cm (3–8 in) long and 4–7 cm (1.6–2.8 in) broad, simple ovate to oblong-elliptic, with a 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) petiole. The flowers are white or yellow, produced in panicles 2.5–12 cm (1.0–4.7 in) long. The fruit is a blue-black drupe 1.5–3 cm (0.6–1.2 in) long and 0.5–2.2 cm (0.2–0.9 in) diameter.

Sometimes the species is treated in the segregate genus Linociera, though this does not differ from Chionanthus in any character other than leaf persistence, not a taxonomically significant character.

The 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that "The fruit of this plant is the food of the jagged-tailed bower-bird (Preonodura Newtoniana). (Bailey.) This observation is interesting, and is the more valuable in that the vegetable foods of our indigenous fauna have very rarely been botanically determined."