''Osyris'' is a genus of plants in the family

Santalaceae The Santalaceae, sandalwoods, are a widely distributed family of flowering plants (including small trees, shrubs, perennial plants, perennial herbs, and epiphyte, epiphytic climbersHewson & George t al.'Santalaceae'' taxonomy, 1984, pp. 191-1 ...

, one of the many genera known as sandalwoods, but not one of the true

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sanda ...

. The species of this genus are mostly

hemiparasitic A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

, meaning although they can survive and grow by themselves, they also opportunistically tap into the root systems of nearby plants and parasitize them. Five species are accepted. *'' Osyris alba'' – common name osyris *'' Osyris daruma'' *''

Osyris compressa '' Osyris compressa'' (Cape sumach or ''pruimbos'') is a facultatively hemiparasitic, mainly South African plant of the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. Until recently, the favoured binomial name was ''Colpoon compressum'', but around 2001, the ...

'' – Cape sumach or pruimbos *''

Osyris lanceolata ''Osyris lanceolata'', also known as African sandalwood, watta bush or Camwood, is used for its scented wood and to extract essential oil. The semi-parasitic plant is found from South Africa to Zimbabwe and east Africa, including Tanzania, Keny ...

'' (synonym '' Osyris quadripartita'' ) – African

, wild tea plant *'' Osyris speciosa''

References

* Santalaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Santalales-stub