Tree of the Week: Olive Tree

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Good morning, and it really is a good one. Not a hint of June gloom in Santa Monica. Today Pieter Severynen, our tree-loving friend, celebrates one of those archetypal Southern California things that isn’t really from California at all: the olive tree.

‘Olea europaea -- Cultivated in Greece and the eastern Mediterranean area since the Stone Age, the olive tree was revered both as a symbol of peace and wisdom, and as a dependable provider of cooking oil. The Franciscan friars brought it here from Spain by way of Mexico. From their mission gardens the tree spread across California as a beloved symbol of our pastoral past, be that real or imagined.

‘This drought-tolerant, evergreen tree grows slowly to 25 to 30 feet high and as wide. It can live as long as 600 years. Foliage is silvery gray, trunk and branches dark gray. With age the trunk forms a buttress network of awe-inspiring gnarly shape. Those who want an instant historic garden can successfully transplant even old trees. The olive tree comes in both fruiting and fruitless varieties and can be shaped as a single or multi-trunk specimen.’

Thanks, Pieter
E-mail Pieter: PISeve@earthlink.net
Photo Credit: OliveCoop.com