American olive
Leaves
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Oleaceae
Genus:	Cartrema
Species:	C. americanus
Binomial name
Cartrema americanus (L.) G.L.Nesom[2]
US range
Synonyms[2]
Amarolea americana (L.) Small Cartrema odorata Raf. Olea americana L. Olea laeta Salisb. Osmanthus americanus (L.) A.Gray Osmanthus americanus var. microphyllus P.S.Green Osmanthus mexicanus Lundell Pausia americana (L.) Raf. Pausia odorata Raf.

Cartrema americana, commonly called American olive,^[3] wild olive,^[3] or devilwood,^[3] is an evergreen shrub or small tree^[3] native to southeastern North America, in the United States from Virginia to Texas, and in Mexico from Nuevo León south to Oaxaca and Veracruz.^[4][5]

Cartrema americana was formerly classified as Osmanthus americanus. Following the discovery that Osmanthus was polyphyletic,^[6] it was transferred to the segregate genus Cartrema together with Osmanthus floridanus^[7] and five Asian species.^[8]

Cartrema americana grows to 4–7 m (13–23 ft), rarely to 11 m (36 ft) tall. The leaves are 5–14 cm (2.0–5.5 in) long and 2–4 cm (0.79–1.57 in) broad, with an entire margin. Its flowers, produced in early spring, are small (1 cm long), white, with a four-lobed corolla and have a strong fragrance. The fruit is a globose dark blue drupe 6–15 mm (0.24–0.59 in) diameter, containing a single seed.^[9][10][11]

It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in gardens for its fragrant flowers.

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