Olea paniculata

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title: "Olea paniculata" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["olea", "lamiales-of-australia", "flora-of-queensland", "trees-of-the-indian-subcontinent", "trees-of-china", "trees-of-thailand", "trees-of-malesia", "trees-of-new-guinea", "trees-of-new-caledonia", "trees-of-vanuatu", "flora-of-new-south-wales", "flora-of-lord-howe-island", "plants-described-in-1810", "bushfood"] description: "Species of flowering plant" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olea_paniculata" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of flowering plant ::

| image = Olea paniculata Sea Acres National Park.jpg | image_caption = Tree at Sea Acres National Park, Australia | genus = Olea | species = paniculata | authority = R.Br. | synonyms =

• Olea glandulifera
• Olea glandulifera
• Olea glandulosa
• Olea thozettii
• Olea bournei
• Linociera lauterbachii
• Ligustrum neoebudicum
• Linociera yunnanensis | synonyms_ref = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Olea_paniculata_fruit.jpg" caption="Foliage and fruit"] ::

Olea paniculata, commonly known as the native olive, is a plant of the genus Olea and a relative of the olive. It grows natively in Pakistan and southwestern China (Yunnan) through tropical Asia to Australia (Queensland and New South Wales) and the Pacific islands of New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Lord Howe Island.

Description

It grows as a bushy tree to 30 m, often with a sparse canopy. The trunk has smooth grey-brown bark and reaches a maximum diameter of 90 cm with some buttressing. The shiny green ovate to elliptical leaves measure 5 – in length, and 1.5 – in width, and have a pointed (acuminate) end. The blue-black fruit are oval and measure 0.8–1.2 (0.3–0.5 in) cm long. They are ripe from May to September.

It resembles the introduced and weedy African olive Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata, but the latter lacks ''O. paniculata'''s small depressions between the main and secondary veins on the back of the leaf. The introduced species is found in disturbed areas such as roadsides and waterways.

Taxonomy

One of many species first described by Robert Brown in his 1810 work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae, it still bears its original binomial name. Other common names include Australian olive, pigeonberry ash, maulwood, and clove berry. In Chinese, it is called 腺叶木犀榄 (). The specific name is derived from the Latin panicula "tuft", from the arrangement of flowers.

Distribution and habitat

Olea paniculata is found from North East Queensland to the vicinity of the Hunter Region in New South Wales.

Ecology

The fruit are consumed by the Australian king parrot, brown cuckoo-dove, topknot pigeon, rose-crowned fruit-dove, wompoo fruit-dove, white-headed pigeon, green catbird and regent bowerbird in Australia.

Uses

It is a fast pioneer species on sunny protected sites, but needs well drained soil for good growth. It is a butterfly host plant whose black fruit attracts birds. The fruit was traditionally eaten by Aboriginal Australians.

References

References

1. "Name - ''Olea paniculata'' R.Br". [[Missouri Botanical Garden]].
2. "''Olea paniculata''". [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]].
3. Hardin DW. "Olea paniculata L".
4. "Weeds Australia - Weed Identification - African olive".
5. {{APNI
6. (2008). "''Olea paniculata'' R. Brown, Prodr. 523. 1810".
7. Floyd, Alex G.. (2009). "Rainforest Trees of Mainland Southeastern Australia". Terania Rainforest Publishing.
8. "Database Error".
9. Cribb, A.B. & Cribb, J.W. (1975) Wild Food in Australia. Sydney: Collins.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::