Olea oleaster

Olea oleaster
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Asterids
Order:
Lamiales
Family:
Oleaceae
Genus:
Olea
Species:
O. oleaster
Binomial name
Olea oleaster

Olea oleaster, the wild-olive, has been considered by various botanists a valid species and a subspecies[1] of the cultivated olive tree, Olea europea, which is a tree of multiple origins[2] that was domesticated, it now appears, at various places during the fourth and third millennia BCE, in selections drawn from varying local populations.[3] The wild-olive (Ancient Greek κότινος/kótinos),[4] which ancient Greeks distinguished from the cultivated olive tree (Ancient Greek ἐλαία/ἐλἀα), was used to fashion the olive wreath awarded victors at the ancient Olympic games.[5] The ancient[6] and sacred wild-olive tree of Olympia stood near the Temple of Zeus, patron of the games.

Today, as a result of natural hybridization and the very ancient domestication and extensive cultivation of the olive throughout the Mediterranean Basin, wild-looking feral forms of olive, called "oleasters", constitute a complex of populations, potentially ranging from feral forms to the wild-olive.[7] The wild-olive is a tree of the maquis shrubland, itself in part the result of the long presence of mankind.

The drought-tolerant sclerophyllous tree is believed to have originated in the eastern Mediterranean Basin.[8] It still provides the hardy and disease-resistant rootstock on which cultivated olive varieties are grafted.

  1. ^ As by M. Sesli and E.D. Yeğenoğlu, "Determination of the genetic relationships between wild olive (Olea europaea oleaster) varieties grown in the Aegean region", Genetics and Molecular Research 9.2 (2010:884-90) (on-line text).
  2. ^ Besnard, Guillaume; Bervillé, André (February 2000). "Multiple origins for Mediterranean olive (Olea europaea L. SSP. Europaea) based upon mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences - Series III - Sciences de la Vie. 323 (2): 173–181. doi:10.1016/S0764-4469(00)00118-9. PMID 10763436.
  3. ^ G. Besnard, P. Baradat, "Genetic relationships in the olive (Olea europaea L.) reflect multilocal selection of cultivars", Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 2001.
  4. ^ The modern species Cotinus erected by Linnaeus, is not in fact related.
  5. ^ Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, IV.13.2: "the wild-olive [kotinos] at Olympia, from which the wreaths for the games are made".
  6. ^ Theophrastus, IV.13.2 instances this tree as an instance of notable longevity among trees.
  7. ^ R. Lumaret, N. Ouazzani, H. Michaud, G. Vivie, "Allozyme variation of oleaster populations (wild olive tree) (Olea europaea L.) in the Mediterranean Basin", Heredity, 2004.
  8. ^ C. Breton, M. Tersac et al., "Genetic diversity and gene flow between the wild olive (oleaster, Olea europaea L.) and the olive: several Plio‐Pleistocene refuge zones in the Mediterranean basin", Journal of Biogeography, 2006; for the view that the homeland of wild-olive trees is Anatolia: Pelletier (Olive and Olive Oil Publicity Committee) 2009.