Comprehensive Description
provided by Smithsonian Contributions to Botany
Olea europaea L
Olea europaea L., Sp. Pl. 8. 1753.—Pancher in Cuzent, Iles Soc. Tahiti 234. 1860.—Hillebrand, Fl. Haw. Is. 301. 1888.—Butteaud, Fl. Tahit. 57. 1891.—Rechinger, Denks. Akad. Wien 85:328. 1910.
Olea sativa Hoffmannsegg and Link, Fl. Port. 1:388. 1809?.—Wilder, Bish. Mus. Bull. 86:84. 1931.
DESCRIPTION.—Small tree. Leaves elliptic to oblanceolate, averaging about 5 × 1.2 cm, silvery-scaly beneath with stellate hairs. Perianth 4-merous, fragrant, the lobes valvate. Fruit a drupe, ellipsoidal, 1.2–4 cm long.
RANGE.—Society Islands (cultivated): Tahiti: Grant 4357, Jardin de Mamao, 29 October 1930, sterile (BISH, MIN). Introduced into Tahiti in 1848 by Robin, according to Pancher.
Also in cultivation in Hawaii, Rarotonga, and Samoa. The Tahitian and Rarotongan trees have apparently not fruited. Native to the Mediterranean region.
LOCAL NAMES.—English: olive. Tahitian: orive, a simple borrowing.
- bibliographic citation
- Grant, Martin Lawrence, Fosberg, F. Raymond, and Smith, Howard M. 1974. "Partial Flora of the Society Islands: Ericaceae to Apocynaceae." Smithsonian Contributions to Botany. 1-85. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.0081024X.17
