Olea europaea L.

English: Olive

German: Olive

Mandarin: 油橄榄 (mu xi lan)

Portuguese: Oliveira

Kingdom: Plantae (2715)

  Phylum: Tracheophyta (2630)

    Class: Magnoliopsida (2217)

      Order: Scrophulariales (81)

        Family: Oleaceae (19)(family description)

          Genus: Olea (1)

            Epithet: europaea L. (3)

Synonyms: Olea alba Lam. ex Steud., Olea amygdalina Gouan, Olea angulosa Gouan, Olea argentata Clemente ex Steud., Olea atrorubens Gouan, Olea bifera Raf., Olea brevifolia Raf., Olea cajetana Petagna, Olea cayana Raf., Olea craniomorpha Gouan, Olea ferruginea (Aiton) Steud., Olea gallica Mill., Olea hispanica Mill., Olea lancifolia Moench, Olea longifolia (Aiton) Steud., Olea lorentii Hochst., Olea obliqua (Aiton) Steud., Olea oblonga Gouan, Olea odorata Rozier ex Roem. & Schult., Olea officinarum Crantz, Olea oleaster Hoffmanns. & Link, Olea polymorpha Risso ex Schult., Olea praecox Gouan, Olea racemosa Gouan, Olea regia Rozier ex Roem. & Schult., Olea sativa Weston, Olea sphaerica Gouan, Olea sylvestris Mill., Olea variegata Gouan, Olea viridula Gouan, Phillyrea lorentii Walp.

alba => white

brevifolia => short-leaved

europaea => from Europe

ferruginea => rust-coloured

gallica => of French origin

hispanica => of Spanish origin

lancifolia => with sharply pointed leaves

longifolia => having long leaves

oblonga => oblong, longer than wide, elliptic with blunt ends

odorata => sweet-smelling

officinarum => of practical use to man; official species in commerce, especially for medicinal purposes

polymorpha => having many forms of the same organ

praecox => early-ripening

racemosa => in form of a cluster

regia => royal

sativa => sown, planted, cultivated, not wild

sylvestris => wild not cultivated, growing in woods and forests

variegata => irregularly coloured, in stripes or patches

Climate: sub-tropical

Habitat: mesophytic

Habit: tree

Flower colour: white

Check for Olea europaea at

World Flora Online, GBIF or IPNI

• [316] Olea europaea - Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)
• [613] Olea europaea - Plants For A Future database
• [754] Olive - Olea europaea - Mark's Fruit Crops
• [1072] Olea europaea - Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé: Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz
• [1606] Olea europaea - Flora of China @ efloras.org

• [3] González, G.L. (2004): Guia de los árboles y arbustos de la Península Iberica y Baleares. Mundi-Prensa Libros, Madrid, Spain.
• [7] Lüpnitz, D. (1984): Pflanzen am Mittelmeer. BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, München, Germany.
• [10] Ricoi, N.R., Silvar,C. (2001): Guía das árbores de Galicia. Baía Edicións, A Coruña, Spain.