Olea ferruginea
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.
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.
Flora of Balochistan – Pakistan
Flora of Pakistan
