374 OLKA EUKOP^A. 



half of ail inch to an inch broad, narrow, with both onds acnto, even, and entire 

 at tht^ odire, joined to tlic main stem by very short toot-stalks, and oj)posite, 

 after the manner of the branchlets. The flower-bnds bet,Mn to appear about the 

 middle of April, l)ut the bloom is not fnll before the end of May or the beginning 

 of June. The flowers, which are borne by the shoots of the preceding; year, are 

 small, white, slightly odoriferous, and are disposed in axillary raeemes, some of 

 whiih are almost as numerous as the leaves, and garnish the tree with wanton 

 luxuriance, while other bunches are thinly scattered over the branches, or are 

 seen only at their extremities. A week after the expansion of the flower, the 

 corolla lades and falls, if the calyx remains behind, a favourable presage is 

 formed of the fruitfulness of the season; but the hopes of the husbandman are 

 liable to be blasted, at this period, at the slightest intemperateness of the ele- 

 ments, which causes the germ to fall with the flower ; whereas, warm weather, 

 accompanied by gentle breezes that agitate the tree and facilitate the fecundation, 

 is most propitious to his wishes. The fruit of the olive is egg-shaped, pointed at 

 the extremity, and is usually from a half to three-fourths of an inch in diameter, 

 in one direction, and from three-fourths of an inch to an inch and a half in the 

 other; but, on wild trees, it scarcely exceeds the size of a common currant. The 

 skin is smooth, and generally of a violet colour, when ripe; but in certain varie- 

 ties, it is of various shades of red, yellow, and black. The pulp is greenish, con- 

 taining an oblong, pointed stone, divided into two cells, one of which is usually 

 void. The oil of the olive is furnished by the pulp, Avhich is a characteristic 

 almost peculiar to this fruit, and that of the Cornus mas. and purpurea, being 

 extracted from the seeds of other oleaginous vegetables. The young olives 

 set in June; increase in size, and remain green during the summer; begin to 

 change colour early in October ; and are ripe at the end of November, or by the 

 beginning of December. On the wild olive, five or six fruits are ripened upon 

 each peduncle ; but on the cultivated tree a great part of the flowers prove abor- 

 tive, and the green fruit is cast at every stage of its growth, so that rarely more 

 than one or two germs upon a cluster arrive at maturity. 



Varieties. The olive, like many other kinds of fruit, has, by long cultivation, 

 become exceedingly multiplied in its varieties, which may be considered as more 

 or less accidental or temporary. From the extensive distribution and long culti- 

 vation of this tree, it is utterly impossible to trace the multitude of cultivated 

 sorts to their original form. The wild, thorny olive, (Olea oleaster,) indigenous 

 to Spain, Portugal, the south of France, and Italy is thought by some, to bear 

 the same relation to the cultivated olive, as the crab does to the apple, and the 

 pyraster to the pear. The following varieties, however, appear to be suffi- 

 ciently distinct, the first of which, may be considered as the normal form of the 

 species : 



1. O. E. LONGiFOLiA, Loudou. Loiig-leavecl Eiiropeon Olive-tree ; Olea europcea^ 

 of Michaux ; Olivier d' Europe, of the French; Langhldttriger Oehlhaum, of the 

 Germans. This variety is that which is principally cultivated in France and 

 Italy, and answers to the general description at the commencement of this article. 



2. O. E. LATiFOLiA, Loudoii. Broad-leaved European Olive-tree; Olea hispan- 

 ica, of Blackwell, in Miller's Dictionary; Olivier d'Espagfie, of the French; 

 Breitbldttriger Oehlbanm, of the Germans. This variety is chiefly cultivated in 

 Spain, the fruit of which is nearly double the size of the common olive of Pro- 

 vence or Italy ; but the oil made from it is too rank in flavour for most palates. 



3. O. E. FERRUGiNEA, Loudoii. Femiginous-leaved Europ)ean Olive-tree, a native 

 of the Cape of Good Hope, and, according to Mr. Royle, of the Himalayas, with 

 the leaves narrow, acute at both ends, and rusty beneath. 



4. O. E. cuRViFOLiA. Twisted-leaved European Olive-tree; Olivier a feuilles 

 lorses^ of the French, with oblong leaves bent obliquely, and pale beneath. 



