Mediterranean Made

The Versatile Olive Tree

By Virginia Hayes

A handful of trees are so ubiquitous in the California landscape
that it seems as if they have always been here. Eucalyptuses and
palms are two such groups and one, Schinus molle, even goes by the
common name California pepper tree, although its home is in the
Andes Mountains in Perú. One other adaptable and common tree from
Europe (probably the Middle East) is the olive (Olea europea). The
olive was domesticated thousands of years ago and its use spread
throughout the warmer areas of the European continent. Useful for
its cured fruits, the oil they produce, as well as fine-grained
wood, olive trees were considered essential to every homestead.
They were first brought to California by the Spaniards who planted
them at their missions and further introductions followed
throughout the 1800s to the present. Individual trees may live to
be hundreds of years old, with many documented at 600 years or
more. Those on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem are reputed to be
2,000 years old and the oldest living tree, growing in Crete, is
said to be 5,000 years old.

In recent years, olives have become somewhat of an icon for the
Mediterranean lifestyle and landscape. Mature trees have gnarled
trunks, spreading branches, and a full crown of glossy green leaves
that have a silvery underside giving the whole tree a gray-green
aspect. They top out at 25 or 30 feet in height and can have an
equal spread. Young trees get their height fairly quickly, and then
slowly attain their character.