Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 14, 2026

Forestiera

Forestiera is a genus of flowering plants in the olive family, Oleaceae. Members of the genus are often called swampprivets. Most are shrubs.

Last revised
Jun 14, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
Length
466 w
Citations
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Wikipedia ↗
Forestiera
Forestiera pubescens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Tribe: Oleeae
Subtribe: Oleinae
Genus: Forestiera
Poir.1
Synonyms2
List
  • Adelia P.Browne
  • Bigelovia Sm.
  • Borya Willd.
  • Carpoxis Raf.
  • Geisarina Raf.
  • Nudilus Raf.
  • Piptolepis Benth.

Forestiera is a genus of flowering plants in the olive family, Oleaceae. Members of the genus are often called swampprivets.34 Most are shrubs.

Species

There are about 20 species, native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, Ecuador and the southern half of the United States.56 Phylogenetics indicate that Forestiera is sister to Hesperelaea, an extinct North American lineage.7

The following species are recognised in the genus Forestiera:8

  • Forestiera acuminata (Michx.) Poir. – eastern swampprivet - central and southeastern United States
  • Forestiera angustifolia Torr. – narrowleaf forestiera, Texas forestiera, Texas swampprivet - Texas, northeastern Mexico
  • Forestiera cartaginensis Donn. Central America, southern Mexico
  • Forestiera corollata Cornejo & Wallander Guatemala
  • Forestiera durangensis Standl. - Durango
  • Forestiera ecuadorensis Cornejo & Bonifaz - Ecuador
  • Forestiera eggersiana Krug & Urban – inkbush - Puerto Rico, Leeward Islands
  • Forestiera godfreyi L.C. Anders. – Godfrey's swampprivet - Florida, Georgia, South Carolina
  • Forestiera isabelae Hammel & Cornejo - Costa Rica
  • Forestiera ligustrina (Michx.) Poir. – upland swamp-privet - Texas, southeastern United States
  • Forestiera macrocarpa Brandegee - Baja California Sur
  • Forestiera phillyreoides (Benth.) Torr. in W.H.Emory - central and southern Mexico
  • Forestiera pubescens Nutt. – downy forestiera, stretchberry - southwestern United States, northern Mexico
  • Forestiera racemosa S.Watson - Nuevo León
  • Forestiera reticulata Torr. – netleaf swampprivet - western Texas
  • Forestiera rhamnifolia Griseb. – caca ravet - Central America, West Indies, southern Mexico, Isla Socorro
  • Forestiera rotundifolia (Brandegee) Standl.
  • Forestiera segregata Krug & Urban – Florida swampprivet - Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, much of West Indies including Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Cayman Islands
  • Forestiera selleana Urb. & Ekman - Hispaniola
  • Forestiera shrevei Standl. – desert olive - Arizona
  • Forestiera tomentosa S.Watson - central and southern Mexico
  • Forestiera veracruzana Cast.-Campos & Pal.-Wass.
References

References

  1. "Forestiera Poir". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  2. "Forestiera Poir. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
  3. "Forestiera Poir". ITIS Standard Reports. Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
  4. Forestiera. USDA PLANTS.
  5. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  6. Forestiera pubescens. The Jepson eFlora 2013.
  7. Zedane, L.; Hong-Wa, C.; Murienne, J.; Jeziorski, C.; Baldwin, B.G.; Besnard, G. (2016). "Museomics illuminate the history of an extinct, paleoendemic plant lineage (Hesperelaea, Oleaceae) known from an 1875 collection from Guadalupe Island, Mexico" (PDF). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 117 (1): 44–57. doi:10.1111/bij.12509. ISSN 0024-4066.
  8. "Forestiera Poir. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2025-02-04.
External links

Media related to Forestiera at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Forestiera at Wikispecies