11 



The young branches are vigorous, bent round, spirally arranged, and 

 grow put at an acute angle; they change from a clear ashy gray to a 

 blackish gray after the first year; the wood quite quadrangular at the 

 outset becomes cylindrical as the branches grow older; besprinkled 

 with light brown freckles, slightly striated; medium size knots. 



Leaves oblong, oval, lanceolate, large to very large (mean length 

 eight to nine centim., ten to eleven centim. in exceptional cases; mean 

 width one and one quarter to one and a half centim. up to two centim. 

 on the hardier stock). Upper face of shining light green; thick, even 

 white coating on lower face; limb thick, with edges much drawn back, 

 forming a channel; nerves appearing only on upper face; mucron 

 long, acute, bent round toward the under face of the leaf; petiole mid- 

 dling, inserted at a very acute angle, especially at the end of the 

 branches where the leaves are habitually accumulating. 



The leaves are very numerous, and the cover of the tree thick ; 

 they are, besides, drawn up, presenting out their under surface, so 

 that when seen at a distance the tree has a very peculiar whitish 

 appearance. 



Fruits gathered up at the base of two-year old branches; almost 

 exclusively on drooping, seldom on dressed, branches; often in groups 

 of two and three; peduncle long, of middling thickness, entering the 

 fruit in a rather deep depression; stigma little apparent in an 

 umbilic little marked at the point of the fruit; olive of medium size 

 (length one and one fourth to two and one fourth centim., width 

 one to one and one half centim.), flattened out at the insertion; of 

 cylindro-conical shape, but slightly bulged on one side; little elon- 

 gated and ending abruptly by a prominent and well delineated point, 

 hence the characteristic name of pointue (pointed) under which it is 

 known in certain localities. The fruit changes from green to red, 

 and finally becomes, at maturity, of a bluish black color, with a few 

 spots of dark red; it is dimly dotted, hard when ripe, and very hoary; 

 thin skin; pulp whitish, colored by dirty red and not abundant 

 juice; pit pretty large, of the general form of the olive, with wrinkled 

 surface, and a very sharp point; tree of second maturity. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



The Oliviere is one of the most ancient varieties of olive trees, cul- 

 tivated in certain parts of Languedoc. Amoreux states this fact in 

 his Traite de I' Oliviere, published at the end of the last century: 

 "The Onliva pownchuda is one of the most common around Montpel- 

 lier, and it is almost the only one to be seen about Narbonne, and 

 throughout Languedoc as far as Beziers" 



There are but few of these large plantations remaining to-day, but 

 the Oliviere, either alone or mingled with other varieties, may be 

 found in almost every place where the land owners have preserved 

 trees enough for their supply of oil, so that if the Oliviere can not be 

 considered the most cultivated variety, it is the most widely spread 

 in Languedoc. It exists also in Provence, in Roussillon, in Algeria, 

 and in certain parts of Italy and Spain. 



The Oliviere is a very hardy tree of great longevity, sturdy, and with- 

 stands without much injury the most severe frosts. This opinion is 

 shared by Itozier Laure, who, considering this variety as sensitive to 

 cold, has undoubtedly made his observations in damp regions, where 

 it was commonly met with in former times. 



