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Chionanthus
Chionanthus pygmaeus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Oleaceae Genus: Chionanthus L.
Species
See text

Chionanthus (syn. Linociera Sw.) is a genus of about 80 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae.

Chionanthus virginicus flowers

The genus has a wide distribution primarily in the tropics and subtropics, but with two species extending north into temperate regions, one (C. retusus) in eastern Asia and one (C. virginicus) in eastern North America. Most of the tropical species are evergreen, while the two temperate species are deciduous; some botanists restrict Chionanthus to the two deciduous, temperate species, treating the evergreen species in a separate genus Linociera, but apart from leaf persistence, there is no other consistent difference between them (Flora of China).

They are shrubs and small to medium-sized trees growing to 3-25 m tall. The leaves are opposite, simple. The flowers are produced in feathery panicles, with a corolla subdivided into four slender lobes; they are white, pale yellow, or tinged pink. The fruit is a drupe containing a single seed.

Selected species

• Chionanthus albidiflorus Thwaites. Sri Lanka.
• Chionanthus axillaris R.Br. Australia (Queensland).
• Chionanthus axilliflorus (Griseb.) Stearn. Caribbean.
• Chionanthus brachythyrsus (Merrill) P.S.Green. Southern China (Hainan), Vietnam.
• Chionanthus caudatus (Collett & Hemsley) Bahadur & Gaur. Myanmar.
• Chionanthus compactus Sw. Caribbean.
• Chionanthus domingensis Lam. Caribbean.
• Chionanthus foveolatus (E.Mey.) Stearn (Pock Ironwood). Southern Africa.
• Chionanthus guangxiensis B.M.Miao. Southeastern China (Guangxi).
• Chionanthus hainanensis (Merrill & Chun) B.M.Miao. Southern China (Hainan).
• Chionanthus henryanus P.S.Green. Southwestern China, Myanmar.
• Chionanthus holdridgei (Camp & Monachino) Stearn. Caribbean.
• Chionanthus intermedius (Wight) F.Muell. India.
• Chionanthus ligustrinus (Sw.) Pers. Caribbean.
• Chionanthus longiflorus (H.L.Li) B.M.Miao. Southwestern China (Yunnan).
• Chionanthus picrophloia F.Muell. Australia (Queensland).
• Chionanthus pubescens Kunth. Ecuador, Peru.
• Chionanthus pygmaeus Small (Pygmy Fringetree). Southeastern United States (Florida).
• Chionanthus quadristamineus F.Muell. Australia (Norfolk Island).
• Chionanthus ramiflorus Roxburgh. Australia (Queensland), southern China, India, Nepal, Vietnam.
• Chionanthus retusus Lindley & Paxton (Chinese Fringetree). China, Japan, Korea.
• Chionanthus sleumeri (C.T.White) Stearn. Australia (Queensland).
• Chionanthus virginicus L. (White Fringetree). Eastern United States.

• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Chionanthus
• Flora of China: Chionanthus
• Chionanthus. Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
• USDA Plants Profile: Chionanthus
• University of Pretoria: Chionanthus foveolatus