What is "phillyrea"

Phillyrea \Phil*lyr"e*a\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ?, ?.] (Bot.) A genus of evergreen plants growing along the shores of the Mediterranean, and breading a fruit resembling that of the olive.

n. (context botany English) Any of the genus (taxlink Phillyrea genus) of evergreen plants with an olive-like fruit.

Phillyrea is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, and naturalized in the Canary Islands and Madeira.

They are evergreen shrubs or small trees growing to 3–9 m tall, related to Ligustrum, Olea and Osmanthus. The leaves are in opposite pairs, small, leathery, ovate to lanceolate, 2–6 cm long and 0.5–2 cm broad. The flowers are small, greenish-white, produced in short clusters. The fruit is a drupe containing a single seed.