Taxon:  Olea europaea L. subsp. cuspidata (Wall. ex G. Don) Cif.



Summary
Genus:
Olea
Subgenus:
Olea
Section:
Olea
Family:
Oleaceae
Tribe:
Oleeae
Nomen number:
410990
Place of publication:
L'Olivicoltore 19:96.  1942
Verified:
01/29/2004 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
31 (5  active, 5  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Olea europaea L. (156 active accession[s])
Olea europaea L. subsp. cerasiformis G. Kunkel & Sunding (0 active accession[s])
Olea europaea L. subsp. europaea (0 active accession[s])
Olea europaea L. subsp. guanchica P. Vargas et al. (0 active accession[s])
Olea europaea L. subsp. laperrinei (Batt. & Trab.) Cif. (0 active accession[s])
Olea europaea L. subsp. maroccana (Greuter & Burdet) P. Vargas et al. (0 active accession[s])
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Basionym
Olea cuspidata Wall. ex G. Don

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Olea africana Mill.
Olea chrysophylla Lam.
Olea europaea L. subsp. africana (Mill.) P. S. Green
Olea ferruginea Royle
Olea sativa Hoffmanns. var. verrucosa (Willd.) Roem. & Schult.
Olea verrucosa (Willd.) Link

No images


Conservation Status

Reference(s)
  1. University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
  2. Besnard, G. & A. El Bakkali. 2014. Sequence analysis of single-copy genes in two wild olive subspecies: nucleotide diversity and potential use for testing admixture. Genome 57:145-153. Note: evidence of ancient admixture with subsp. europaea
  3. Besnard, G. et al. 2007. On the origin of the invasive olives (Olea europaea L., Oleaceae). Heredity 99:608-619.
  4. Besnard, G. et al. 2008. Polyploidy in the olive complex (Olea europaea): Evidence from flow cytometry and nuclear microsatellite analyses. Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 101:25-30. Note: as a diploid taxon
  5. Besnard, G. et al. 2009. Plastid and nuclear DNA polymorphism reveals historical processes of isolation and reticulation in the olive tree complex (Olea europaea). J. Biogeogr. 34:736-752.
  6. Besnard, G. et al. 2018. On the origins and domestication of the olive: a review and perspectives. Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 121:385-403. DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcx145.
  7. Boutelje, J. B. 1980. Encyclopedia of world timbers, names and technical literature
  8. Breton, C. et al. 2008. Reply to comment on Breton et al.: "Taming the wild and 'wilding' the tame: Tree breeding and dispersal in Australia and the Mediterranean". Pl. Sci. (Elsevier) 175:208-209.
  9. Breton, C. et al. 2008. Taming the wild and 'wilding' the tame: Tree breeding and dispersal in Australia and the Mediterranean. Pl. Sci. (Elsevier) 175:197-205.
  10. Cuneo, P. & M. R. Leishman. 2006. African olive (Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata) as an environmental weed in Australia: a review. Cunninghamia 9:545-577.
  11. Friis, I. 1992. Forests and forest trees of Northeast Tropical Africa
  12. Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
  13. Hannachi, H. et al. 2009. Oleaster (var. sylvestris) and subsp. cuspidata are suitable genetic resources for improvement of the olive (Olea europaea subsp. europaea var. europaea). Genet. Resources Crop Evol. 56:393-403. DOI: 10.1007/s10722-008-9374-2.
  14. Kassa, A. et al. 2019. Molecular diversity and gene flow within and among differenct subspecies of the wild olive (Olea europaea): a review. Flora (Elsevier) 250:18-26.
  15. Médail, F. et al. 2001. Systematics, ecology and phylogeographic significance of Olea europaea L. ssp. maroccana (Greuter and Burdet) P. Vargas et al., a relictual olive tree in south-west Morocco. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 137:250.
  16. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  17. Wagner, W. L. et al. Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (on-line resource).
  18. Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
Common names
LanguageNameAlternate namenoteseqCitation
EnglishAfrican olive  1Cuneo, P. & M. R. Leishman. 2006. African olive (Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata) as an environmental weed in Australia: a review. Cunninghamia 9:545-577.
Englishbrown olive  1Boutelje, J. B. 1980. Encyclopedia of world timbers, names and technical literature
Englishwild olive  1Boutelje, J. B. 1980. Encyclopedia of world timbers, names and technical literature
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNoteReference
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaKenya  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaTanzania  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaEast Tropical AfricaUganda  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaEritrea  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaEthiopia  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSomalia  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaSudan  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaEgypt  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaAngola  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMalawi  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaMozambique  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZambia  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaSouth Tropical AfricaZimbabwe  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaBotswana  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaEswatini  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaLesotho  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaNamibia  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth Africa  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaBurundi  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaDemocratic Republic of the Congo  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaWest-Central Tropical AfricaRwanda  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaWestern Indian OceanMadagascar  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaWestern Indian OceanMauritius  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAfricaWestern Indian OceanReunion  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaOman  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaSaudi Arabia  Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaYemen  Besnard, G. et al. 2007. On the origin of the invasive olives (Olea europaea L., Oleaceae). Heredity 99:608-619.
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaSichuan Sheng Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaYunnan Sheng Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaAfghanistan  Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIran  Besnard, G. et al. 2007. On the origin of the invasive olives (Olea europaea L., Oleaceae). Heredity 99:608-619.
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia  Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentNepal  Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistan  Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
4NaturalizedAustralasiaAustraliaAustraliaNew South Wales Besnard, G. et al. 2007. On the origin of the invasive olives (Olea europaea L., Oleaceae). Heredity 99:608-619.
4NaturalizedPacificNorth-Central PacificUnited StatesHawaii Wagner, W. L. et al. Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (on-line resource).
Native
Africa
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Egypt
  • NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia
  • EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
  • WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda
  • SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe
  • SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa
  • WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
  • WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan, Iran
  • CHINA: China [Sichuan Sheng, Yunnan Sheng]
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Nepal, Pakistan
Naturalized
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia [New South Wales]
Pacific
  • NORTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: United States [Hawaii]

Reference(s)
  1. Besnard, G. et al. 2007. On the origin of the invasive olives (Olea europaea L., Oleaceae). Heredity 99:608-619.
  2. Green, P. S. 2002. A revision of Olea L. Kew Bull. 57:95-97.
  3. Wagner, W. L. et al. Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (on-line resource).
  4. Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Environmentalornamental Besnard, G. et al. 2009. Plastid and nuclear DNA polymorphism reveals historical processes of isolation and reticulation in the olive tree complex (Olea europaea). J. Biogeogr. 34:736-752.
Environmentalshade/shelterpotential, as wind screenBreton, C. et al. 2008. Taming the wild and 'wilding' the tame: Tree breeding and dispersal in Australia and the Mediterranean. Pl. Sci. (Elsevier) 175:197-205.
Materialswoodtimber, as Olea africanaTeketay, D. 1993. Problems associated with raising trees from seeds. the Ethiopian experience. In: Lieth, H & M. Lohmann, eds., Restoration of tropical forest ecosystems. 98. Note: Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht.
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=410990. Accessed 15 April 2026.