Latin Name: Olea Africana
English Name: Wild Olive Tree
AKA: Olienhout Boom
Appearance: The Wild Olive is a neatly shaped evergreen tree growing to approximately 9 metres high with a dense crown spreading around 12 metres.
The leaves are grey green to dark green on top and light below. The bark is grey and rough.
Sprays of tiny, lightly scented white to greenish flowers appear around October until February and are followed by small, spherical, thinly fleshed fruits between March and July. These fruits then ripen purple black in colour.
Uses: The fruit is eaten by a wide variety of animals and birds.
The leaves are often eaten by game and livestock. They are also used for tea, ink and various traditional remedies.
Growing: The tree is slow growing, but is frost, drought and wind resistant. Water moderately and do not plant too close to buildings, walls, pools etc as the root system can be disruptive.
Comments: The wood is a beautiful golden brown in colour which buffs into a stunning knife handle, my personal favorite. As a hardwood, it is suitable for use on knife handles, but not so hard so as to discourage use. It is easily shaped and finished with the wood containing characteristic grain patterns which vary in intensity, making each handle unique.
