Oleaceae

Oleaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. It presently comprises 26 genera, one of which is recently extinct. The 25 extant genera include Cartrema, which was resurrected in 2012. The number of species in Oleaceae is variously estimated in a wide range around 700. Oleaceae consists of shrubs, trees, and a few lianas. The flowers are often numerous and highly odoriferous. The family has a sub-cosmopolitan distribution, ranging from the subarctic to the southernmost parts of Africa, Australia and South America. Notable members of Oleaceae include olive, ash, jasmine, and several popular ornamental plants including privet, forsythia, fringetrees, and lilac.

Genera

The following list contains all 25 genera recognized in the most recent (2004) revision of the family. It also includes Cartrema, which was resurrected in a scientific paper in 2012.Linociera is not included, even though some authors continue to recognize it. Linociera is not easy to distinguish from Chionanthus, mostly because the latter is polyphyletic and not clearly defined.