The olive is a slow-growing evergreen tree from the Mediterranean and one of the first fruit trees people ever domesticated. It has gray-green leaves with silvery undersides, and its fruit is so bitter off the tree that it has to be cured before eating. In the US it's grown mainly in California, where it has also escaped into the wild in places.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A slow-growing, many-branched evergreen tree up to about 33 ft (10 m) tall, with a gnarled, twisted trunk as it ages.
- Leaves
- Opposite, leathery, narrow leaves 1½–3 in (4–8 cm) long; gray-green above and silvery underneath.
- Flowers
- Tiny white flowers about ⅕ in (5 mm) across in short clusters where the leaves meet the stem.
- Fruit
- An oily, one-seeded fruit about ½–1 in (1–2.5 cm) long; very bitter until cured.
Look-alikes
Russian olive's leaves grow one at a time along the stem (alternate), not in pairs, and its twigs are often thorny. Its small fruits are orange-red to yellowish and covered in silvery scales, with dry, mealy flesh.
Why they get mixed upIt's called an olive and has similar narrow, silvery leaves, and it's a common invasive tree across much of the US, but it belongs to a different plant family.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- orchards
- gardens
- grasslands and shrublands (escaped)
- Range
- Native to the Mediterranean region, which still holds most of the world's olive trees. In the US it's farmed and planted as a landscape tree in California, and it has in southern California and the Central Valley.
- Preferred conditions
- Loves hot, sunny, dry sites and handles drought well. Temperatures below about 14°F (−10°C) can damage even mature trees.
Life cycle
- Seed dispersal
- Birds and mammals eat the fruit and spread the seeds.
Growing it
- Care
- Usually propagated by cuttings or . Many varieties need a partner variety nearby to set fruit. Near open space, consider seedless varieties to keep seedlings out of wildlands.
- Toxicity
- Olive pollen is a strong allergen and can be a problem for allergy sufferers where many trees are planted.
Name and classification
- About the name
- The cultivated olive is subspecies europaea. Africa and Asia have separate wild-olive subspecies, and some classifications lump the African olive (subsp. africana) into the Asian brown olive (subsp. cuspidata).
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- DDData DeficientNot enough data yet to assess
- Threats
- In California it is rated a limited invasive plant, spreading into grasslands and shrublands, especially in southern California and the Central Valley. In Channel Islands National Park, managers have worked to control the offspring of old olive plantings.
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- An olive branch has long stood for peace, and wild-olive wreaths crowned winners at the ancient Olympic Games.
- Dating suggests most old olive trees are 300–500 years old, and the oldest about 700, though some trees are claimed to be thousands of years old.
More species to explore
Record what you meet and build your own collection
Your photos are kept with their date and place, and you can fill regional albums one species at a time.