All About The Olive Tree

Common Names: Olive, European Olive

Origin: Native to Mediterranean Europe, Asia, and Africa 

Height: 26 – 49 Feet Tall    

Uses: The fruit and oil of the olive tree are commonly known food sources. Olive oil has been used in religious ceremonies for anointing, as a fuel source for temple candles and as the flame for the original Olympic games. Olive wood, one of the hardest of all woods, has a variety of uses from rosary beads to home furnishings.

History, Fun Facts and Legends:

• The olive tree is in the same plant family, Oleaceae, as jasmine and lilac.
• Olives and their oil are a few of the main ingredients in Mediterranean cuisine.
• Believed to originated 20–40 million years ago.
• Olive tree branches were used to form wreaths for the burial of the ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamen.
• Often considered a symbol of peace, fertility and wisdom.
• Oliveira do Mouchão, located in Portugal, is one of the oldest known olive trees still alive and has an estimated age of 3,350 years.
• Freshly picked olives are very bitter and require curing and fermentation to reduce the bitterness prior to consumption. 
• Legends state all of the ancient Greek gods were born under an olive tree. 
• Ancient Greek men were known to carry containers of perfumed olive oil on their belt or wrist.
• Olives and olive trees are mentioned extensively throughout sacred texts as well as in ancient poems such as the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer.

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