Black Olive Tree 



721 



3 cm. long. The buds are naked. The leaves are alternate, usually crowded at 

 the ends of the branches, thick and leathery, 

 obovate to spatulate or eUiptic, 3 to 9 cm. 

 long, entire, blunt or shghtly notched, often 

 minutely tipped, gradually tapering to the 

 short petiole, bright green above, yellow- 

 ish green beneath, haiiy at first, becoming 

 smooth, except along the stout midrib be- 

 neath. The perfect small green flowers ap- 

 pear in spring, in slender, hairy spikes 3 to 

 10 cm. long; the calyx-tube is saucer-shaped, 

 hairy, 3 mm. high, its lobes broadly triangu- 

 lar, sharp-pointed; corolla none; stamens 

 10, conspicuously exserted, their anthers 

 arrow-shaped; style slender, hair}' at the 

 base. The fruit is a drupe, ovoid-conic, 7 

 to 8 mm. long, often slightly curved, capped 

 by the enlarged persistent calyx, thinly hair)-; the seed is ovoid, sharp-pointed. 



The wood of the Black ohve tree is hard, close-grained, and yellowish 

 brown, is valued for construction and makes excellent fuel. Its specific gravity 



Fig. 660. Black Olive Tree. 



Fig. 661. Black Olive Tree, Inagua, Bahamas. 



