993

Shrub, Tree
Perennial
Dioecious

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Documented growing wild in GA NC SC

Common in GA & SC (uncommon in NC)

Look for it in maritime forests and (in FL, GA, SC, and extreme s. NC) hammocks and other dry, sandy forests well inland; reported southwards for wet habitats as well, per Weakley's Flora

To see a detailed map, click here

 

...Wet ...Moist ...Dry

LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Opposite or subopposite

FLOWER:
Spring
Creamy-white
Mostly unisexual
Radially symmetrical
4-merous
4-lobed calyx
4-lobed campanulate corolla
Superior ovary
Inflorescence a few-flowered axillary panicle

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Blue
Drupe

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

• Gardening with Native Plants of the South p057
• Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p094
• Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast p120
• Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide p257
• Trees of the Southeastern United States p094
• Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry p088
• Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide p224

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA (5/21/15):
Cartrema americanum   FAMILY Oleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Osmanthus americanus var. americanus   FAMILY Oleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (1968) 153-04-001:
Osmanthus americana   FAMILY Oleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933)
Amarolea americana

SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Synopsis of American Cartrema (Oleaceae) (Nesom, 2012)
Cartrema americana