olive Oleaceae Olea europaea

Leaf:Opposite, simple, evergreen, lanceolate or narrow-oblong, 1 to 3 inches long, entire margins, thick and leathery, blue- to gray-green above and much paler beneath.
Flower:Clusters of small creamy white to pale yellow flowers appearing from leaf axils in spring.
Fruit:Oblong drupe up to 1 1/2 inches long, smooth, green initially but dark reddish purple (nearly black) when ripe in winter.
Twig:moderately stout, light gray-green and finely fuzzy when young.
Bark:Light gray-brown, smooth for a long time but eventually becoming finely scale, gnarled and bumpy.
Form:Wild trees are more shrub like; however, most trees seen have been pruned to have single, short trunk with a wide, spreading crown, to 20 or 30 feet. Trunks are generally twisted and contorted.

leaf flower fruit twig bark form map

Notes: