Common Olive trees in our area:

 

 

Russian Olive:

123

 

  • Deciduous shrub/tree, 15-20(40)ft [4.5-6(12) m] rounded outline, young branches silvery, stems sometimes thorny.  Leaves alternate, simple, oblong to linear-laceaolate (willow-like), 2.5-7.5 cm long and 1-1.5 cm wide, margin entire, dull green above and silvery below.  Flowers small, 1 cm long, perfect, silvery on the outside, yellow inside, calyx tube campanulate.  Fruit drupe-like, 15 mm long, yellow with silvery scales.

 

  • Sun, drought and cold resistant, prefers alkaline soils, few pests.

 

  • Hardy to USDA Zone 2       Native to southern Europe and western and central Asia.

 

  • Caution: listed as a noxious weed by the U. S. federal government and many states.  Apparently brought to North America in the late 1800s, was planted as an ornamental, and subsequently escaped into the wild.  Until recently, the U.S. Soil Conservation Service recommended Russian-olive for wildlife planting and windbreaks.  The small fruit is readily eaten and disseminated by many species of birds.  It out competes native vegetation, interferes with natural plant succession and nutrient cycling, and taxes water reserves.  Because it is capable of fixing nitrogen in its roots, it can grow on bare, mineral substrates and dominate riparian vegetation where overstory cottonwoods have died.  Russian-olive is found along streams, fields and open areas. (Plant Conservation Alliance, Alien Plant Working Group, www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/elan1.htm).

 

 

 

 

Common problems with Olive trees:

 

 

Insects:

 

Aphids      
 

 


Aphids feed by sucking up plant juices through a food channel in their beaks. At the same time, they inject saliva into the host. Light infestations are usually not harmful to plants, but higher infestations may result in leaf curl, wilting, stunting of shoot growth, and delay in production of flowers and fruit, as well as a general decline in plant vigor. Some aphids are also important vectors of plant diseases, transmitting pathogens in the feeding process.

A sticky glaze of honeydew may collect on lower leaves, outdoor furniture, cars, and other objects below aphid feeding sites. Honeydew coated objects soon become covered by one or more brown fungi known as sooty molds. Crusts of sooty mold are unsightly on man-made objects, and they can interfere with photosynthesis in leaves.

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Diseases:

 

     
   

 

 

    
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