Shady Lady Black Olive

Though commonly called `Black olive tree', this native of the upper Florida Keys (some consider it native, others do not) is not the edible olive we know and love, but does produce a small, black seed-capsule.

 

Black olive is a 40 to 50-foot-tall evergreen tree with a smooth trunk holding up strong, wind-resistant branches, forming a pyramidal shape when young but developing a very dense, full, oval to rounded crown with age. Sometimes the top of the crown will flatten with age, and the tree grows horizontally. The lush, dark green, leathery leaves are two to four inches long and clustered at branch tips, sometimes mixed with the 1/4 to 1 ½-inch-long spines found along the branches.