Fontanesia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, usually treated as comprising a single species Fontanesia phillyreoides, though some authors split this into two species (see below). It is native to southern Europe (Sicily), southwestern Asia (Lebanon, Syria, Turkey) and eastern Asia (China), with two well-separated populations. The species epithet was originally published erroneously as "philliraeoides", but this a correctable error, because it refers to the genus Phillyrea.