Olives are bring out on European olive tree tree diagram , have it off by their scientific name asOlea europaeadue to the fact that they arenative to Europe . These fearless tree have been educate by humans for at least 5,000 twelvemonth , cater delicious fruit , nutritious oil , utilitarian wood , and healing music . The European olive tree is also an attractive low , evergreen plant tree diagram , furnish shade and knockout in the garden or plantation .
What an Olive Tree Looks Like
The utile and beautiful olive tree diagram grows as a small tree or large shrub with oblong , pale , silvery - light-green leaves valuate 1 ½ to 4 in ( 4 to 11 cm ) in distance . Leaves remain on the tree year - orotund .
The trunk of these tree often becomes snarly and twisted into interesting shapes as the tree ages , and these trees can live for an astonishing long time with the one-time living specimens being thousand of years old and still produce edible yield .
Most types of European olive tree tree diagram originate to an ultimate height of about 25 feet ( 7.6 meters ) , although some reach as tall as 50 base ( 15.25 meter ) , and some cultivar get grandiloquent than others . There are also a few semi - dwarf cultivar which grow to an ultimate height of about 15 feet ( 4.6 meters ) , including :
The ultimate height of an Olea europaea tree is also pretend by the lineament of soil where it is plant and how much water it receives .
Olive Tree Flowers and Fruits
In give , Olea europaea trees flower , producing small , white groups of flower with a feather - same appearance and containing ten calyx and two stamen . The efflorescence appear in bunch call racemes , growing out of the axil of the leave of absence .
Most olive variety are self - productive , meaning the bloom can cross-pollinate themselves , although when arise olives , better fruit production is often achieved when there are dissimilar cultivars planted near one another .
Pollinated flowers turn into olive fruit which is approximately ½ to 1 column inch ( 1.25 to 2.5 curium ) in length , containing a single , small pit . The fruit start out green in colour and then slowly turn yellow - unripened then dark purple or black as it ripens .
Olive fruit harvestinghappens between October and December , depending on whether the fruit will be cure as green or sinister table olives or used for crude . fruit harvested later in the time of year are generally the ones used for oil because the fruit bring out more oil color content as they develop .
Planting Zones for Olive Trees
Olive trees , being native to the warmer parts of Europe and the Near East , thrive in USDA planting zone 8 to 11 . These temperate climates have mild winters with temperature staying above 20ºF ( -6.6C ) and dry , hot summertime month . However , European olive tree trees needregular wateringduring the summer .
