It is variously known as sweet osmanthus, sweet olive, tea olive, and fragrant olive, is a species native to Asia from the Himalayas through southern China (Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan) to Taiwan and southern Japan and southeast Asia as far south as Cambodia and Thailand.

It is the "city flower" of the cities of Hangzhou, Suzhou, Guilin in China

Growth

It is an evergreenshrub or small tree growing to 3–12 m tall. The leaves are 7–15 cm long and 2.6–5 cm broad, with an entire or finely toothed margin. The flowers are white, pale yellow, yellow, or orange-yellow, small (1 cm long), with a four-lobed corolla 5 mm diameter, and have a strong fragrance; they are produced in small clusters in the late summer and autumn. The fruit is a purple-black drupe 10–15 mm long containing a single hard-shelled seed; it is mature in the spring about six months after flowering

Cultivation

It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in gardens in Asia, Europe, North America, and elsewhere in the world for its deliciously fragrant flowers which carry the scent of ripe peaches or apricots. A number of cultivars have been selected for garden use, with varying flower colors. Within Japan, the white- and orange-blossoming subspecies are distinguished as ginmokusei (lit. "silver osmanthus") and kinmokusei (lit. "gold osmanthus"), respectively.

Culinary

A small jar of sweet osmanthus sauce

In Chinese cuisine, its flowers may be infused with green or black tea leaves to create a scented tea. The flowers are also used to produce osmanthus-scented jam, sweet cakes, dumplings, soups, and even liquor. Osmanthus jam is used as an ingredient in a type of gruel called chatang , which is made from sorghum or millet flour and sugar mixed with boiling water. This dish is associated with the northern city of Tianjin, although it may also be found in Beijing.

Repellent

In some regions of North India, especially in the state of Uttarakhand, the flowers of sweet osmanthus are used to protect clothes from insects.

Medicinal

In traditional Chinese medicine, osmanthus tea has been used as an herbal tea for the treatment of menopathies.[10] The extract of dried flowers showed neuroprotective, free-radical scavenging, antioxidative effects in in vitro assays.