Sweet Osmanthus

Osmanthus fragrans, sweet osmanthus, is a flowering plant of the olive family, also called sweet olive, tea olive and fragrant olive. It is native to Assam, Cambodia, China, the Himalayas, Japan, Myanmar, Taiwan, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam. It is an evergreen shrub or small tree 3 to 12 metres tall, with white to orange-yellow flowers about a centimetre long in late summer and autumn, and a strong fragrance. In China it is the city flower of Hangzhou, Suzhou and Guilin. In Chinese cuisine the flowers are infused with green or black tea to make osmanthus tea, and go into jam, cakes, dumplings, soups and liquor. In some regions of northern India the flowers are used to protect clothes from insects. In traditional Chinese medicine osmanthus tea has been used for irregular menstruation.