Olea europaea

Also known as olive tree, olive

The olive (botanical name Olea europaea, "European olive") is a species of subtropical evergreen tree in the family Oleaceae. Originating in Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean Basin, with wild subspecies in Africa and western Asia; modern cultivars are traced primarily to the Near East, Aegean Sea, and Strait of Gibraltar. The olive is the type species for its genus, Olea, and lends its name to the Oleaceae plant family, which includes lilac, jasmine, forsythia, and ash. The olive fruit is classed botanically as a drupe, similar in structure and function to the cherry or p

OverviewAI-generated

Olea europaea, commonly known as the olive tree, is a species of tree and useful plant in the family Oleaceae. It belongs to the kingdom Plantae, phylum Tracheophyta, class Magnoliopsida, and order Lamiales. The scientific name was authored by Linnaeus. The organism is an evergreen plant that produces a drupe as its fruit type. It serves as the source of the olive and has uses as a food, medicinal plant, and for afforestation.

The taxon range includes the Mediterranean Basin, China, the Tibet Autonomous Region, and Guangdong. It has been introduced to areas such as Argentina Northeast, Ascension, Bermuda, China Southeast, Corse, Egypt, France, Hainan, Hawaii, Iraq, Jawa, and Korea. The species is listed as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List as of 2011. It appears in the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition and is classified as a vital article on Wikipedia.

Synthesized by Vinony from 50 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, Gbif Occ, Plants of the World, IUCN Red List, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Data Deficient

olive

Olea europaea

SPECIES

KingdomPlantae
PhylumTracheophyta
ClassMagnoliopsida
OrderLamiales
FamilyOleaceae

Native toAfghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Baleares, Botswana, Burundi, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, China South-Central, Cyprus, Djibouti

Observations recorded406,381

Olea europaea est une espèce d’arbres ou d'arbustes de la famille des Oleaceae répandue à travers l'Afrique, l'Asie et l'Europe méditerranéenne et dont une variété a été domestiquée et cultivée pour devenir l'olivier. Au cours de l'histoire de la botanique, de nombreuses sous-espèces ont été décrites.

via GBIF · IUCN · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 1,776
With media: 1,297
Family: Oleaceae
Collections: INECOL, UAZ, CIBNOR, IBUNAM, NY, UACH
Recorded in: Mexico, United States

iDigBio →

Key facts

Nutritional value.name: Olives, green
Nutritional value.image: Olives vertes.JPG
Nutritional value.caption: Marinated green olives
Nutritional value.kJ: 609
Nutritional value.protein: 1.03 g
Nutritional value.fat: 15.32 g
Nutritional value.satfat: 2.029 g
Nutritional value.monofat: 11.314 g
Nutritional value.polyfat: 1.307 g
Nutritional value.carbs: 3.84 g
Nutritional value.fiber: 3.3 g
Nutritional value.sugars: 0.54 g
Nutritional value.calcium_mg: 52
Nutritional value.iron_mg: 0.49
Nutritional value.magnesium_mg: 11
Nutritional value.phosphorus_mg: 4
Nutritional value.potassium_mg: 42
Nutritional value.sodium_mg: 1556

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: taxon
Subclass of: useful plant
Parent taxon: Olea
Image: Illustration Olea europaea0.jpg
Has use: food

Show 13 more facts

Commons category: Olea europaea
taxon name: Olea europaea
taxon rank: species
Commons gallery: Olea europaea
GRIN URL: npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=25555
has fruit type: drupe
start time: 60000-00-0
taxon range: Guangdong
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
short name: O. europaea
taxon author citation: L.
foliage type: evergreen plant
taxon common name: divja oljka

Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~58 min read

Encyclopedic overview

35 sections

Contents

Etymology
Description
Taxonomy
Cultivars
History
Mediterranean Basin
Expansion and propagation
Outside the Mediterranean
Americas
Asia
Global expansion
Cultivation
Growth and propagation
Pests, diseases, and weather
As an invasive species
Harvesting
Fermentation and curing
Longevity
Oldest living trees
Global production
Nutrition
Phytochemicals
Allergenicity
Uses and properties
Olive oil
Table olives
Olive wood
Ornamental
Olive mill wastewater
Olive stone
Environmental health and sustainability
Symbolic and cultural significance
See also
References
External links

The olive has deep historical, economic, and cultural significance in the Mediterranean. It is among the oldest fruit trees domesticated by humans, being first cultivated in the Eastern Mediterranean between 6,000 and 4,000 BC, most likely in the Levant. The olive gradually disseminated throughout the Mediterranean via trade and human migration starting in the 16th century BC; it took root in Crete around 3500 BC and reached Iberia by about 1050 BC. Olive cultivation was vital to the growth and prosperity of various Mediterranean civilizations, from the Minoans and Myceneans of the Bronze Age to the Greeks and Romans of classical antiquity.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Olea europaea” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.