Fontanesia philliraeoides subsp. fortunei
Common name: 
Fontanesia
Pronunciation: 
fon-tan-EE-sh-e-uh fil-li-ray-OY-dez for-TU-ne-i
Family: 
Oleaceae
Genus: 
Fontanesia
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Broadleaf deciduous shrub, upright, to 10 ft (3 m) tall.  Branches tetragonal (four angles and four sides) in cross section.  Leaves opposite, lanceolate, 3–12 cm long and 8–26 mm wide, apex long acuminate, margin usually entire, bright green above, persist into winter.  Flowers white, 4-petaled, 2 stamen, in clusters 2–6 cm long.  Fruit a thin, flat samara.
  • Sun to partial shade.  Any well-drained soil.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 6.   Native to China.
  • Fontanesia: for Rene Louiche Desfontaines (1750-1833), French botanist.
  • philliraeoides: presumably referring to a likeness to the genus Phillyrea in the Oleaceae.
  • fortunei: for Robert Fortune, Scottish botanist (1812-1880) and collector in China.   Apparently introduced this form in 1846, called "Fortune’s Privet Bretschneider".
  • Salem, Oregon, Bush Prairie Park, near the service road entrance to the Willamette University stadium.
Click image to enlarge
  • leaves

    leaves

  • developing fruit (seeds), late summer

    developing fruit (seeds), late summer

  • plant habit, late fall

    plant habit, late fall

  • leaves and fruit, late fall

    leaves and fruit, late fall

  • fallen seeds, late fall

    fallen seeds, late fall

  • seed clusters, winter

    seed clusters, winter

  • winter twig

    winter twig