''Olinia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of small trees and shrubs with 10 species in the family

Penaeaceae The Penaeaceae are a family of evergreen, leathery-leaved shrubs and small trees, native to South Africa. The family has 29 species in 9 genera.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards)Penaeaceae.

. The species of ''Olinia'' are native to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, ranging from west Africa to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It was previously regarded as the sole genus in the family Oliniaceae, but is now included in the expanded Penaeaceae along with ''

Rhynchocalyx ''Rhynchocalyx lawsonioides'', the false-waterberry, is a small flowering tree, the sole species of the genus ''Rhynchocalyx''. It had also previously been regarded as the only species in the monogeneric family Rhynchocalycaceae but is now includ ...

'' (formerly of the Rhynchocalycaceae) under the

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a f ...

of classification. File:Olinia emarginata tree - South Africa 5.jpg, File:Olinia cymosa Thbg.jpg,

References

Afromontane flora Penaeaceae Myrtales genera {{Myrtales-stub