Species · Mediterranean
European olive
Olea europaea
An evergreen tree with narrow leaves that are pale underneath. The fruit is a drupe with a single stone. In many cultivars, it ripens from green to purple or nearly black.
Field guide · Cyprus
Olive
trees
From Ladoelia in Cyprus to the African wild olive, explore the trees, their fruit, and the cultivars grown around the Mediterranean.
Browse cultivars
Species and subspecies
The genus Olea includes several species. Most cultivars grown for table olives and oil belong to Olea europaea.
Subspecies · Africa and Asia
African wild olive
Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata
This wild subspecies ranges from Africa to southern China. It has narrow, pointed leaves and small fruit.
Species · Africa
Cape olive
Olea capensis
This African species is also known as black ironwood. The photograph shows a tree in flower in a mountain forest in Cape Town.
Olive cultivars
Cultivars differ in where they originated, the size and shape of their fruit, and how the harvest is used.
From Catalonia to Brazil
Arbequina
Arbequina produces small, round fruit used for oil. It originated in Catalonia and is now grown on both sides of the Atlantic.
Cyprus · Oil and table olives
Ladoelia
This local cultivar is also known as the Cyprus olive. Its green fruit is used in traditional Cypriot cooking.
Greece · Oil
Koroneiki
The small fruit of this Greek cultivar is prized for its high oil yield. Koroneiki is widely grown on Crete and elsewhere in Greece.
Spain · Oil
Arbequina
A Catalan cultivar with small, round fruit. It is also grown outside Spain, including in Brazil.
Spain · Oil
Picual
An Andalusian cultivar especially common in the province of Jaén. Its name refers to the distinctive point at the tip of the fruit.
Greece · Table olives
Kalamon
A Greek cultivar with large, elongated fruit. Ripe Kalamon olives are commonly cured in brine.
Italy · Oil
Frantoio
A traditional Tuscan oil cultivar that is also grown in other parts of Italy.