What is "fontanesia"

Fontanesia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, usually treated as comprising a single species Fontanesia phillyreoides, though some authors split this into two species (see below). It is native to southern Europe ( Sicily), southwestern Asia ( Lebanon, Syria, Turkey) and eastern Asia ( China), with two well-separated populations.

It is a deciduous shrub growing to 8 m tall. The leaves are opposite, lanceolate to narrow ovate, 3–12 cm long and 8–26 mm broad, with an acute apex and a usually entire margin, sometimes finely serrated. The flowers are white, with a deeply four-lobed corolla; they are produced in panicles 2–6 cm long. The fruit is a flat samara, surrounded by a wing.

There are two subspecies, often treated in the past as separate species. Despite the distance separating the two, the differences between them are minimal; the leaves of subsp. phillyreoides are sometimes cited as having finely serrated margins, but this character is not reliable.

• Fontanesia phillyreoides subsp. phillyreoides. Italy, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon. Leaves up to 8 cm long, dull green above.
• Fontanesia phillyreoides subsp. fortunei (Carr.) Yalt. (syn. F. fortunei Carr.; F. phillyreoides var. sinensis Debeaux). China ( Anhui, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Shandong, Zhejiang). Leaves up to 12 cm long, glossy green above.

The species epithet was originally published erroneously as "philliraeoides", but this a correctable error, because it refers to the genus Phillyrea.