Osmanthus americanus Richard Lynch multi-branched spikes far larger than

multi-branched spikes far larger than the straight species

The names alone are a small history lesson

and a measure of patience

and the plant has stayed scarce ever since

Osmanthus americanus Richard Lynch multi-branched spikes far larger thanDevilwood earns the odd name honestly. Osmanthus americanus carries a wood so cross grained and stubborn that early woodworkers swore the timber was possessed, and the name has stuck for centuries, a small piece of American folklore hung on an otherwise gracious plant. The leaves are leathery, elliptical, and smooth margined, a deep glossy green without the spines that arm so many tea olives, and they build into a dense, rounded evergreen of fifteen