Oleaceae

                                 (Cronquist,1981)
Trees or shrubs, sometimes climbing, mostly with unilacunar, 1-trace nodes, very often with peltate secretory trichomes, and sometimes with extrafloral nectaries composed of group of secretory hairs, plants commonly producing mannitol, iridoid compounds, and the phenolic glycosides orobanchin and syringin, but generally without alkaloids and not cyanogenic, sometimes with triterpenoid salonins or other triterpenoid compounds, and sometimes somewhat tanniferous, but lacking both ellagic acid and proanthocyanins, small crystals of calcium oxalate commonly found in some of the cells of the parenchymatous tissues, vessel-segments with simple perforations, or the seldom some of them with a few cross-bars, imperforate tracheary elements with simple to sometimes evidently bordered pits, occasionally septate, Wood -rays heterocellular to homocellular, mixed uniseriate and pluriseriate, the latter 2-4 (5) cells wide, with short ends, wood-parenchyma in most genera mainly paratrachel, but sometimes mainly apitracheal and diffuse, or wanting, internal phloem wanting, Cork arising superficially. Leaves opposite or rarely alternante, simple to pinnately compoud or trifoliolate or unifoliolate, often containing sclereids, stomates commonly anomocystic, petiole generally with an arcuate vascular strand, sometimes with smaller accessory lateral bundles, stipules wanting. Inflorescence fundamentally cymose, but often recemiform or paniculiform, or the flowers sometimes some or all of them unisexual. The family oleaceae consists of some 30 genera and 600 species