Fontanesia

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Lamiales

Familia: Oleaceae
Tribus: Fontanesieae
Genus: Fontanesia
Species: F. fortunei – F. philliraeoides
Name

Fontanesia Labill. (1791)

Type species: Fontanesia philliraeoides Labill.

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Desfontainesia Hoffmanns., Verz. Pfl.-Kult. 56. 1824.
Type species: non design.

References

Labillardière, J,J,H. de 1791. Icones Plantarum Syriae Rariorum, Descriptionibus et Observationibus Illustratae ... 1: 9, pl. 1.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2015. Fontanesia in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2015 Feb. 1. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2015. Fontanesia. Published online. Accessed: Feb. 1 2015.
Tropicos.org 2015. Fontanesia. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2015 Feb. 1.

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.[1][2][3][4]

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.[1]

There are two subspecies,[1][2][5] often treated in the past as separate species.[6] 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.[6]

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.
References

Flora of China: Genus Fontanesia page, Fontanesia phillyreoides species page
"Fontanesia philliraeoides". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 19 January 2018.
Flora Europaea: Fontanesia
Altervista Flora Italiana, Fontanesia phillyraeoides Labill. includes many photos
Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
Bean, W. J. (1978). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles 8th ed., vol. 2. John Murray ISBN 0-7195-2256-0.