Botanic Gardens Tree of the Month
This is one of a series of short articles about trees in the Belfast Botanic Gardens compiled by the Friends group. The tree tag number relates to the small aluminium discs, usually fixed on the tree trunk, 2 to 3m above ground level.
Osmanthus x burkwoodii
Burkwood osmanthus or hybrid sweet olive
no Tag
54deg 34.936N
5deg 55.976W
Osmanthus x burkwoodii is an attractive slow-growing shrub, eventually reaching 3 to 4m in height. It has glossy leaves and very sweetly-scented white flowers in spring.
O. x burkwoodii is a hybrid between the Chinese O. delavayi and the Turkish O. decorus. It was raised in England in about 1930 by Burkwood and Skipwith. It received an Award of Garden Merit from the RHS in 1984. It was originally thought be be a bi-generic hybrid and given the name x Osmarea burkwoodii because its parent O. decora was in the genus Phillyrea (making it a hybrid between the two genera).
