Olive tree
Olea europaea
Family · Oleaceae · Harmless
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The tree that defines the Mediterranean and half of inland Portugal. The wild form, the acebuche, is spiny and small-leaved; the cultivated one is the same species, domesticated for millennia.
Montado · Fields and pasture · Scrubland · Walls and rocks
Also known aswild olive, olive
How to tell it
A narrow leathery leaf, grey-green above and clearly silvery beneath, set in opposite pairs. A twisted, knotted trunk in old trees.
What it is confused with
Oleander
Nerium oleander
Oleander has a bigger leaf, green on both sides and in threes; olive has a silvery underside and grows in pairs. And oleander bleeds latex when broken, olive does not.
What it is for
Oil and table olives, always after curing: the raw olive is unbearably bitter, and that bitterness is what makes it safe to recognise.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.
Where it occurs
Each square is an area with recorded observations of this plant. The lighter background is the set of areas where any of the entries has been observed, and serves as a reference. Note what this is not: it is not where the plant lives, it is where people record it, so trails and towns always look fuller than the mountains. Data from GBIF.
Sources
Community
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