Okay, I'm new to this, so if the answer is obvious, please don't laugh at me to my face. Here's the deal: Last november-ish I was jogging in DC and ran past something that smelled SOOO good I had to stop and go back and look at it. It was a large shrub (maybe 12 feet wide and tall), and it had little white flowers on it that were perfuming the air like only Mother Nature can. So I looked at the leaves, and thought it was a holly bush, or some relative thereof, because it was glossy dark green, and had those little pokey edges that holly leaves do. Okay, so I came home, started trying to find this thing on the internet, and came up with "False Holly," "Tea Olive," etc (multiple names for the same bush - but essentially "Holly Osmanthus," or "Osmanthus Heterophyllus." Okay, so I bought a couple of "Tea Olive" bushes, but the leaves don't match. And here's the kicker: I went back and cut a couple of little limbs off, and the leaves vary from holly-esque (several pokie edges), to quasi-holly-esque (1-2 points only), to completely oval with no points. I mean, these are all on the SAME BRANCH. So I started thinking maybe I had come across some weird hybrid thing that I could never ID or buy or reproduce; until two days ago when I came across the same bush, with the same hybrid-mismatched leaves, at another nearby corner. At this time of year, said bush has no flowers to speak of, and maybe for a whole huge bush I could find at most 3 little green or dark blue/black fruits (olives?) growing. I snipped a couple of branches off and have pictures, if that would help. But basically there's not much that the pictures say that I haven't already (in my 1000 words.... ha ha). Glossy, dark green, evergeen, some leaves oval and some holly-like and some inbetween, and little white VERY fragrant flowers in late fall, and a couple of sad little fruits buried away in the shrubbery. PLease help me -- what IS this???? I've purchased Tea Holly/False Holly/Holly Osmanthus and they have all oval leaves. Any help would be greatly appreciated !! I want some of these things, and my attempts to propagate the little branches I snipped off have not been successful....!! Thank you!! Suzanne SCBuono@comcast.net
Yup, pics would help immensely. We're a visual crew, lol! Though someone will likely know from the description alone.
Okay, I'm gonna give this a shot -- I just tried to upload the pics I took of the little branches I clipped off the bush (#2.....clippings off bush #1 died) and stuck them in a pot with great soil, thinking I could maybe propagate them from soft-wood twigs (like the False Holly I thought they were to begin with...). Thus, the pics are of the freshly clipped twigs in all their oval/holly/quasi-holly glory. That said, I'm not sure the upload worked, so if there are no pics attached to this, I'll try again. Thanks for looking and trying to help...!!!!!!!!! Suzanne
Okay, I'll take that hard right cross to my jaw....but then why do I see "osmanthus heterophyllus" listed also as "Tea Olive," "False Holly," "Sweet Olive," etc -- and when I bought two of these (namely, "Sweet Olive"), the leaves are only oval? What is this thing I have fallen in love with, and if it is indeed "osmanthus heterophyllus," then why does it go by a number of other names that are not, in fact, the same plant? Based on my internet investigative searches (and I was SOOOO proud of myself, coming up with the "false holly" diagnosis...), it seems that there are a number of names for the same thing; this is fine, except that when I found the false holly/osmanthus heterophyllus, ETC ETC ETC, I thought I could buy it (them) and get the thing I was trying for. Alas, I bought Tea Olives (purportedly another name for the False Holly, Osmanthus...etc etc), and got something entirely different from the thing I clipped branches off of. I'll give you that "hetero" means different, and "phyllus" apparently means leaves (?), but what is the specific name of this plant so that I can try an buy one/some, and not end up with the wrong thing again? ...Thank you for the ID --- and if someone sells these I would really like to get my hands on one or two (* before I get arrested stealing snippings off the bushes in DC....!! *) Thanks Suzanne
Checked up - it looks like the answer is variability between different individuals/cultivars, as well as variability of leaves on a single plant. There is a named cultivar Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Myrtifolia' which has all or nearly all entire leaves, that could be the plants you have seen that had this character.
Thank you, Michael. I love you. You don't happen to sell these do you?.... And if not, what do I need to specifically ask for to get this particular plant ? I thought I had it wrapped up with "Tea Holly," and/or "False Holly," but I now have two trees that still aren't what I was looking for. Thanks again Suzanne
