Olea ferruginea

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Olea ferruginea

Family

Oleaceae

Description

Trees or shrubs, up to 10 m high, greyish green. Bark smooth when young, peeling off in narrow strips when old. Leaves oblong-lanceolate to ovate, 3-10 cm long, often cuspidate, very coriaceous, dark green and shining above, with a dense film of minute scales beneath which turn reddish brown on older leaves, margins recurved, midrib prominent; petiole short. Flowers whitish, in trichotomous axillary 2-4 cm long cymes. Calyx truncate or with 4 short teeth. Corolla tube very short, lobes 4, 1-2 mm long, elliptic, obtuse or acute, with a ridge along the middle. Drupe c. 8 mm long, 5 mm in diameter, ovoid, black when ripe; pulp scanty, oily. Fruit: August-November.

Olea_ferruginea illustration
Illustration Credit: M.Y. Saleem

Distribution

An evergreen tree common in the Mountains of Pakistan. Also in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Very common in the lower hills, 500-2000 m, gregarious, usually with Acacia modesta. Frequently planted in graveyards.

Vernacular

Kahu, Showan, Kao,  Indian Olive.

Uses

The wood is very hard and heavy, used for turning, plows etc. and as firewood.

Olea ferruginea
Picture Location: Lowara District Sherani 1600 m.
Olea ferruginea
Wild Olive Fruit
Courtesy:
Flora of Balochistan – Pakistan
Flora of Pakistan


Naeem Javid Muhammad Hassani is working as Conservator of Forests in Balochistan Forest & Wildlife Department (BFWD). He is the CEO of Tech Urdu (techurdu.net) Forestrypedia (forestrypedia.com), All Pak Notifications (allpaknotifications.com), Essayspedia, etc & their YouTube Channels). He is an Environmentalist, Blogger, YouTuber, Developer & Vlogger.

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