Whole olive-flower development montage with cultivar labels, flower buds, open flowers and sampling-stage markers.
Original scientific figure

Whole olive-flower development montage with cultivar labels, flower buds, open flowers and sampling-stage markers.

Alagna et al. (2016), PLOS ONE, Figure 1; CC BY 4.0. · CC BY 4.0 · Image source

Flower stages in Leccino, Dolce Agogia and Frantoio cultivars sampled at the Spoleto olive collection. Dates describe this sampling schedule.

Overview

Kew accepts Olea europaea in Oleaceae, with a native range across Africa and from the Mediterranean toward southern central China, including Greece and Kriti. Its 1753 publication marks naming history only.

It is an evergreen with paired, elliptic, silvery leaves. Flowers form clusters in the leaf axils, with four-lobed calyx and corolla and two stamens. The fruit has a fleshy outer layer around a hard stone enclosing the seed.

A 2020 study sequenced Picual and resequenced forty cultivated and ten wild accessions. It found high cultivated diversity and expanded transposable-element families, with some insertions near genes potentially linked to domestication traits. Clonal propagation and occasional sexual crosses shape cultivars; no single domestication route was established.

Evergreen shrub or treeOpposite elliptic silvery leavesAxillary flower clusters with two stamensFruit with fleshy mesocarp and hard endocarpCultivars commonly propagated clonally
01

Origins & earliest records

Formally published in Species Plantarum (1753), p. 8, per Kew. Domestication history is not resolved by the sources used.

02

Evidence & interpretation

Kew accepted name, distribution and species profile; Jiménez-Ruiz et al. 2020 genomic study (abstract, pp. 1–2).

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Species Plantarum

    · 1753

    Selected bibliography; original place of publication (p. 8) as recorded by Kew.

  2. 02

    Transposon activation is a major driver in the genome evolution of cultivated olive trees (Olea europaea L.)

    Jiménez-Ruiz et al. · 2020

    Selected bibliography; The Plant Genome, DOI 10.1002/tpg2.20010.

Family, evolution & connections

Taxonomic classification

A hierarchy of classified groups, not a chain of direct ancestors.

Source note: Family placement follows Kew, which currently accepts seven infraspecific taxa; these are not itemised here.

  1. FamilyOleaceae
  2. SpeciesOlea europaea

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Taxonomic databaseOlea europaea L. | Plants of the World OnlineResearch access: 2026-10-07
  2. Institutional species profileOlea europaea L. — general informationResearch access: 2026-10-07
  3. Journal articleTransposon activation is a major driver in the genome evolution of cultivated olive trees (Olea europaea L.)Research access: 2026-10-07

Image credits

Original scientific figure

Whole olive-flower development montage with cultivar labels, flower buds, open flowers and sampling-stage markers.

Alagna et al. (2016), PLOS ONE, Figure 1; CC BY 4.0. · CC BY 4.0 · Image source

Flower stages in Leccino, Dolce Agogia and Frantoio cultivars sampled at the Spoleto olive collection. Dates describe this sampling schedule.

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