Cartrema americana, commonly called American olive, wild olive, or devilwood, is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to southeastern North America, in the United States from Virginia to Texas, and in Mexico from Nuevo León south to Oaxaca and Veracruz.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Osmanthus americanus
Cartrema americana was formerly classified as Osmanthus americanus. Following the discovery that Osmanthus was polyphyletic,Shi-Quan Guo, Min Xiong, Chun-Feng Ji, Zhi-Rong Zhang, De-Zhu Li and Zhi-Yong Zhang, Molecular phylogenetic reconstruction of Osmanthus Lour. (Oleaceae) and related genera based on three chloroplast intergenic spacers, Plant Syst Evol (2011) 294:57–64 it was transferred to the segregate genus Cartrema together with Osmanthus floridanusNesom, G.L. 2012. Synopsis of American Cartrema (Oleaceae). Phytoneuron 2012-96: 1–11. and five Asian species.José Ignacio De Juana Clavero, Cambios nomenclaturales en la sección Leiolea (Spach) P. S. Green, del género Osmanthus Lour. (Oleaceae), Bouteloua 22: 28-39 (XI-2015)
Cartrema americana grows to , rarely to tall. The leaves are long and broad, with an entire margin. Its flowers, produced in early spring, are small (1 cm long), white, with a four-lobed corolla and have a strong fragrance. The fruit is a globose dark blue drupe diameter, containing a single seed.Weaver, R. E. (2003). Botany Section. Tri-ology 42 (6): 1-16 pdf file Centenary College Virtual Arboretum, Louisiana: Osmanthus americanus Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan .
It is cultivated as an ornamental plant in gardens for its fragrant flowers.
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