The olive tree (Olea europaea L.) is a fruit plant coming from the Middle-East, utilized since ancient times for eating. Its fruits, olives, are used for extracting oil and, to a minor extent, they’re eaten directly. Because of their bitter taste due to the polyphenols that they content, the use of olives as eating fruits requires specific treatments aimed at the “deamaricazione” (reduction of the bitter principles), accomplished through various methods.
The olive tree belongs to the family of Oleaceae. The plant starts to fructify around the 3rd or 4th year, begins its full productivity towards the 9th 10th year; it comes to full ripeness after 50 years. It’s a long-living plant: in favourable weather conditions an olive can live up to a thousand years. Its roots, most likely of the adventitious kind, are mostly on the surface and expanded, and never usually grow more than 60-100 cm (approx. from 2 to 3 feet) underground. [Wikipedia]

CHARACTERISTIC CENTENNIAL OLIVES:
LARGE CENTENNIAL OLIVES IN A LUMP FROM 3,5 TO 4,2 METRES (approx. 11,5 to 14 feet):
CENTENNIAL OLIVE TREES IN A LUMP WITH A GIRTH GOING FROM 2 TO 3 METRES (approx. 6,6 to 10 feet):

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