Olive Tree The olive
tree is the oldest known cultivated tree in
history. Olives were first cultivated in Africa,
and then spread to Morocco, Algiers, and Tunisia by
the Phoenicians. Olea europaea was first cultivated
in Crete and Syria over 5000 years ago. Around 600
BC olive tree cultivation spread to Greece, Italy
and other Mediterranean
countries. The olive
tree played a huge role in the civilization of the
Mediterranean countries. Athens was named after the
goddess Athena who brought the olive It isn't accurately known what the botanical ancestor of the modern olive tree is, but it is believed to be Oleaster olea sylvestris, which still grows wild in North Africa, Portugal, Southern France, Italy and areas around the Black and Caspian Seas. Some think that it originated from a tree which covered much of the Sahara Desert before the glaciers. Olea europaea needs just the right climate to grow, hot in the summer, a slight winter chill, and plenty of sun. The Mediterranean area and other placeswith Mediterranean climates, such as Texas, Arizona, and California are good places to grow olives. Olive trees can grow in nutrient-poor, but well-drained soils. It needs full sun for fruit production, but also needs a slight winter chill for the fruit to set. Temperatures below 15°F will kill a young tree. In the Mediterranean the olive fruit fly and the Mediterranean fruit fly are it main pests. The olive tree is an evergreen tree with gray-green leaves, and small white fragrant flowers in the spring which produce a lot of pollen. A young olive tree has smooth gray bark, but as it gets older it gets very gnarled. A mature tree can reach a height of 25 to 30 feet, and live for hundreds of years. Some have even lived to be a thousand years. To be able
to survive in a hot and dry climate, olive trees
have small leaves with a protective coating and
hairy undersides that slows transpiration. An olive
tree tends to grow dense, thin branches. To produce
more fruit, the tree is pruned heavily. Olives
ripen through the autumn and into the winter. As
the oil content increases, the olives change color
from green to violet to nearly black. The green
olives are harvested first. Olives can be hand
picked, gathered with a special wooden rake-like
tool, or brought down by hitting the branches with
long poles. A net is laid down on the ground to
catch the harvest. Olives are
brought to a mill as soon as they are picked to
keep down oxidation and acidity. There the dirt and
leaves 2001
bibliography: "Olive Tree", http://www.gilboa.co.il/ol-tree.htm "History of Olives", http://www.olivepit.com/History_Of_Olives.asp Janet Jemmott, "Olives: Growing 'Olea Europaea' - Kithcen Gardener Magazine", http://www.taunton.com/kg/features/growing/olives/1.htm "Olea europaea - mediterranean climate gardening throughout the world", http://www.support.net/Medit-Plants/plants/Olea.europaea.html "Making Olive Oil", http://www.oliveoilsource.com/making_olive_oil.htm |