Olea europaea Seeds | Olive
LATIN NAME: Olea europaea
COMMON NAME: Olive
Plant Profile
Olea europaea, better known as Olive, is a tree in the olive family. Olive is silver tree of dry hills, and small, white flowers hide among narrow, grey-green leaves. It is a tree of open, sunny, deep, very well-drained ground. Its open flowers are a reliable stop for bees and other pollinating visitors. For the gardener, the sum of these traits is a plant that is easy to live with.
Science & Biotechnology
Seed science, comparative botany and horticultural selection all touch on Olea europaea, a representative of the olive family with clear practical value. Contemporary seed practice means a grower can raise it confidently with standard techniques.
Uses & Benefits
In the garden, Olive earns its place in borders, containers and mixed plantings, and it also rewards growers who raise plants for cutting, drying or kitchen use. Olive is a fine, historic tree of dry hills and warm garden. Fruits have a very long record as oil and table fruit of old world, pressed into green-gold oil of kitchen and cured into olives of table, one of fine, steady crops of dry regions. It has been written up in culinary and agricultural papers for silver leaves and the very long history of the oil, and it is a fine, long-lived tree of the open, sunny, deep, very well-drained garden. Establishment is uncomplicated, and afterwards ordinary care suffices.
The olive gives the Mediterranean diet its foundation: extra-virgin olive oil’s oleocanthal and polyphenols are studied for anti-inflammatory and heart effects, and olive leaf tea is a folk remedy for blood pressure.
Growing from Seed
Raising Olive from seed is straightforward. Fill a pot with a light seed compost, sow evenly on the surface, cover thinly and stand it somewhere warm, bright and evenly moist. Prick the seedlings out once they are large enough to handle, grow them on in bright light, and plant out when conditions allow.
Our Take
Olive settles in quickly once it finds its footing. Beginners will find it patient of imperfect technique.
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