Olea europaea (leaf)

Nomenclature

Olea europaea L.   Oleaceae  
Standardized common name (English): olive

Botanical Voucher Specimen

Source: MOBOT, Tropicos.org

Organoleptic Characteristics

The leaves and bark of the olive tree have an acrid and bitterish taste ... Source: United States Dispensatory (1918)

Macroscopic Characteristics

Olea europaea L. is one of the leading fruit trees of the world. It is usually from fifteen to twenty-five feet in height, though sometimes much larger ... It has a solid, erect, unequal stem, with numerous straight branches, covered with a grayish bark. The leaves, which stand opposite to each other on short footstalks, are evergreen, firm, lanceolate, entire, two or three inches in length, with the edges somewhat reverted, smooth and of a dark green color on their upper surface, whitish and almost silvery beneath. The flowers are small, yellowish-white, and disposed in opposite axillary clusters, about half as long as the leaves, and accompanied with small, obtuse, hoary bracts. The fruit, or olive, is a smooth, oblong or oval drupe, greenish at first, but of a deep violet color when ripe, with a fleshy pericarp, and a very hard nut of a similar shape. Clusters of not less than thirty flowers yield only two or three ripe olives. Source: United States Dispensatory (1918)

Microscopic Characteristics

Multi-lobed glandular scale observed at 400x with Acidified Chloral Hydrate Glycerol Solution. Source: Elan M. Sudberg, Alkemist Laboratories	Long thick walled fibers within the leaf mesophyll observed at 400x with Acidified Chloral Hydrate Glycerol Solution. Source: Elan M. Sudberg, Alkemist Laboratories