Narrative
Information on this variety from Bulletin 720, Olive Varieties in California, by Hartman and Papaioannou, California Agricultural Experiment Station, University of California, Berkeley, February 1951: Collected from the USDA Plant Introduction Garden, Chico. Imported from Italy in 1925. The tree bears with good regularity. The fruit grows singly, rarely in twos, on variably sized peduncles. It ripens so unevnly that during December both solid green and black fruits may be observed on the same tree. At maturity in late December, the fruit is bluish-black; whitish lenticels are quite prominent at the last stage of maturity. The shape of the olive is variable--usually elongated oval, often broadly oval or erect, protruding at one side. The base is rounded but occasionally slanted; the apex is bluntly pointed, often rounded; the stem-end cavity is prominent. The pit is large and variable in shape--short, erect, cylindroid, or variably depressed on two sides. Some pits, howevever, are oblong, erect, or slightly curved, cylindroid, or somewhat flat on two sides. The base is usually broad, square, or truncated--rarely rounded or narrow; the apex-half is broader than the base-half and is rounded--rarely tapered--terminating in a small, thin, sharp point. The surface is densely crossed lengthwise by medium-sized--rarely long--continuous or branched, deep furrows; these usually disappear on reaching the middle of the pit. In the apex-half, warty projections appear; the main furrows may be prominent but usually are shallow or obscure in this half. This variety may have some value as a canning olive because of its good size and high oil content but would be difficult to harvest because of its uneven ripening of the fruit.