The oil fruit or olive was, along with the vine and the fig tree, one of the promises of the Old Testament - the Jews already found it as a cultivated plant in the Promised Land. As a rule, olive trees are between 300 and 600 years old.
How old can an olive tree get?
An olive tree can reach an age of several hundred years, in some cases even around 2000 to 3000 years. The oldest known olive trees, such as the “Ano Vouves” on Crete, are over 1000 years old and still bear fruit.
Olives are cultivated plants that are thousands of years old
An olive tree can live for many hundreds of years, in some cases even around 2,000 to 3,000 years old. The crop, which comes from the Middle East, was cultivated in the eastern Mediterranean region over 5,000 years ago. The wild form found in the Mediterranean maquis is a tree similar in appearance, but with thorny branches, smaller leaves and small, bitter, unusable drupes.
The oldest olive trees in the world
- The “Ano Vouves” olive tree on Crete is considered the oldest olive tree in the world with an estimated age of around 3000 years
- Olive tree in Luras, Italy: age between 2000 and 3000 years
- Olive trees on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives: age at least 1000 years
The gnarled olive trees, usually consisting of several trunks, have a trunk circumference of around 10 to 12 meters and still bear fruit every year. Since trees age differently than people or animals, such age records are not at all unusual. Trees, especially olive trees, have the ability to regenerate, i.e. H. they can replace dead parts. Trees usually die because they grow too large and can no longer support parts of the plant that are further away.
Olives grow very slowly
Olives are among the extremely slow-growing plants; they only gain about one centimeter in circumference per year. They grow primarily in height, especially when they are young, and only later in width. Older olive trees in particular have a bizarre appearance, as their trunks are full of holes and depressions and are also heavily twisted. Olive growers believe that the gnarlier such a tree looks, the more yield it produces. Olives bear fruit very late; an olive tree flowers for the first time at the earliest when it is between five and seven years old. The plant only reaches its peak between the ages of 40 and 150 - which is why a Greek proverb says that a farmer does not plant olive trees for himself, but for his children and grandchildren.
Tips & Tricks
Basically, olive trees are pretty boring plants: not much happens year in and year out. But they are extremely undemanding and do not take offense to neglect. Ergo, olives are the perfect trees for beginners.
