Common Name: OLIVE FAMILY Habit: Perennial herb to tree [vine], hairs 0 or peltate or not; rarely dioecious. Leaf: simple to odd-pinnately compound, alternate or generally opposite, deciduous or evergreen; stipules 0. Inflorescence: various; flowers >= 1. Flower: generally bisexual, generally radial; calyx generally minute (0), tube cup-shaped, teeth or lobes 4--15; petals (0)4--6(8), generally fused; nectar disk often present; stamens (0)2(4--5), epipetalous; pistil 1, ovary superior, chambers 2, each 2--4 ovuled, placenta axile, style 1, stigma generally 2-lobed. Fruit: drupe, capsule, or winged achene. Seed: 1 per chamber. Genera In Family: +- 25 genera, 900 species: +- worldwide; some cultivated for ornament (Forsythia; Jasminum, jasmine; Ligustrum, privet; Syringa, lilac) or food (Olea, olive). eFlora Treatment Author: Family description, key to genera by Thomas J. Rosatti; treatment of genera by James Henrickson, except as noted Scientific Editor: Bruce G. Baldwin.
Common Name: OLIVE Habit: Tree [shrub]. Leaf: simple, opposite, short-petioled, entire, leathery. Inflorescence: raceme or panicle, axillary or terminal. Flower: generally bisexual; calyx 4-toothed to -lobed; corolla rotate, lobes 4; stamens 2; ovary 1. Fruit: drupe. Etymology: (Greek: ancient name)
Olea europaea L.
NATURALIZED Habit: Tree generally < 10 m. Stem: trunks becoming gnarled; bark gray, with age furrowed. Leaf: petiole 2--7 mm; blade 20--70 mm, 6--16 mm wide, narrowly elliptical to oblanceolate, green adaxially, closely silver-scaly abaxially. Inflorescence: axillary, narrow raceme-like panicle, 15--40 mm, branches opposite; bract 1--3 mm; pedicel 1--3 mm; flowers in 1--3s. Flower: calyx cup-like, 4-toothed, +- 1 mm; corolla 2.5--4 mm, white, tube < 1 mm, lobes 4, 2--3.5 mm, 1.5--2 mm wide, ovate-elliptical, margins inrolled; stamens 2, filaments < 1 mm; anthers yellow, 1.5--2.5 mm; ovary superior, +- 1 mm, style < 1 mm, stigma +- head-shaped, +- 1 mm; some ovaries not developing. Fruit: 9--20 mm, ovoid, oily, green, becoming black. Chromosomes: 2n=46. Ecology: Generally waif, persisting from cultivation; Elevation: < 200 m. Bioregional Distribution: s NCoR, GV, CCo, SnFrB, w SCoRO, SCo, n ChI (Santa Cruz Island); Distribution Outside California: native to western Asia. Flowering Time: Feb--Jun Note: Introduced widely; cultivated for food and cooking oil in Mediterranean for +- 6000 years. Synonyms: Olea europaea subsp. africana (Mill.) P.S. Green Jepson eFlora Author: Family description, key to genera by Thomas J. Rosatti; treatment of genera by James Henrickson Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) View the CDFA Pest Rating page for Olea europaea Weed listed by Cal-IPC Previous taxon: Olea Next taxon: Onagraceae
Citation for this treatment: Family description, key to genera by Thomas J. Rosatti; treatment of genera by James Henrickson 2012, Olea europaea, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=35090, accessed on April 18, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 18, 2024.
Geographic subdivisions for Olea europaea:
s NCoR, GV, CCo, SnFrB, w SCoRO, SCo, n ChI (Santa Cruz Island)
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).
Data provided by the participants of the
Consortium of California Herbaria.
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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
