Brown Olive is an evergreen tree usually growing 2-10
m tall, but occasionally reaching up to 15 m in height. Its oppositely
arranged leaves are elongated in shape, 6-10 cm long and 1-4 cm wide,
and often with hooked tips. These leaves have glossy dark green upper
surfaces and greenish or yellowish-brown lower surfaces. Tts small
creamy-white flowers have four petals, about 3 mm long, that are
joined into a very short tube at the base. The flowers are borne in
small clusters at the ends of the branches or in the leaf axils.
Flowering occurs mostly during spring. The distinctive ellipsoid fruits
are green when immature and turn purplish-black in color as they
mature. These fruit, 1.5-3 cm long and 0.6-2 cm wide, have a single
stone in the centre surrounded by oily flesh. Brown Olive is found in
Western Himalaya, at altitudes of 600-2800 m, and in Africa and West
Asia.
Identification credit: Ashutosh Sharma
Photographed in Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh.
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The flower labeled Brown Olive is ...