''Nestegis'' is a genus of flowering plant in the

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

family, Oleaceae. There are five currently accepted species in the genus: three species are endemic to New Zealand, while one can be found on New Zealand and

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

. Another is restricted to Hawaii.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Some species of the related genus '' Osmanthus'' are sometimes included here.Shi-Quan Guo, Min Xiong, Chun-Feng Ji, Zhi-Rong Zhang, De-Zhu Li and Zhi-Yong Zhang, Molecular phylogenetic reconstruction of ''Osmanthus'' Lour. (Oleaceae) and related genera based on three chloroplast intergenic spacers, Plant Syst Evol (2011) 294:57–64

Etymology

The name ''Nestegis'' is of unknown origin, since the author

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; October 22, 1783September 18, 1840) was a French 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimat ...

often invented generic names from scratch. It may have no meaning at all or it may derive from Greek ''stegos'' (στέγος) meaning "cover" in allusion to the lack of a

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

in the type species, '' Nestegis apetala''.

Description

''Nestegis'' species are evergreen trees or

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are opposite, simple, entire, and coriaceous. The inflorescence is axillary,

decussate Decussation is used in biological contexts to describe a crossing (due to the shape of the Roman numeral for ten, an uppercase 'X' (), ). In Latin anatomical terms, the form is used, e.g. . Similarly, the anatomical term chiasma is named aft ...

, sometimes terminal and somewhat

paniculate A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle ar ...

. The flowers are either

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

or functionally unisexual. The

is either absent or four-lobed with a short tube. There are two or four

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. The

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

is shaped like a flask. The fruit is a

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

containing a single seed.

Species

Currently accepted species: # '' Nestegis apetala'' ( Vahl) L.A.S.Johnson – New Zealand (where the common name is coastal maire or broad-leaved maire) and

(where it is called ironwood) # '' Nestegis cunninghamii'' ( Hook.f.)

L.A.S.Johnson Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson FAA, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian taxonomic botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, for the whole of his professional career, as a botanist (194 ...

– black maire (New Zealand) # '' Nestegis lanceolata'' – white maire (New Zealand) # '' Nestegis montana'' (Hook.f.) L.A.S.Johnson in O.Degener – narrow-leaved maire (New Zealand) # ''

Nestegis sandwicensis ''Nestegis sandwicensis'', commonly known as Hawai'i olive or ''olopua'', is a species of flowering tree in the olive family, Oleaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. It is found on all major islands at elevations of in coastal mesic and mixed mes ...

'' ( A.Gray) O.Deg., I.Deg. &

– "olopua" ( Hawaii) Formerly included: *'' Nestegis ligustrina'' – privet mock olive (New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria) formerly included in this genus but the name now considered a synonym of ''

Notelaea ligustrina ''Notelaea ligustrina'', known as the privet mock olive, native olive, doral or silkwood, is a plant in the olive family, found in south eastern Australia. It is known to grow in and near rainforests south of Monga National Park in New South W ...

'' Vent.

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q5413274 Oleaceae genera