The Mission olive is a

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

developed in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, by Spanish missions along El Camino Real in the late 18th century. The Mission olive has been included in the

Ark of Taste The Ark of Taste is an international catalogue of endangered heritage foods which is maintained by the global Slow Food movement. The Ark is designed to preserve at-risk foods that are sustainably produced, unique in taste, and part of a distin ...

, an international catalog of endangered heritage foods maintained by the Slow Food movement. It is also the only American olive cultivar listed by the

International Olive Council The International Olive Council (IOC) (formerly the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC)) is an intergovernmental organization of states that produce olives or products derived from olives, such as olive oil. The organization's members account ...

in its World Catalogue of Olive Varieties. Although developed in the United States, Mission olives are also used by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

producers.

Description

Mission trees can reach heights of . They produce small fruit, typically of around . It has the lowest flesh-to-pit ratio (6.5:1) and greatest cold resistance of any commercial cultivar in California. Mission olives are harvested for table use from late October through November; for oil production, they are harvested between mid-December and February. They are susceptible to peacock spot, a disease caused by the fungus '' Cycloconium oleaginum'', and olive knot, a disease caused by the bacterium ''

Pseudomonas savastanoi ''Pseudomonas savastanoi'' is a gram-negative plant pathogenic bacterium that infects a variety of plants. It was once considered a pathovar of ''Pseudomonas syringae,'' but following DNA-relatedness studies, it was instated as a new species. It ...

''.

Uses

Mission olives are one of five cultivars (along with Ascolano, Barouni, Manzanilla, and Sevillana) commercially viable in California for production as table olives. They have also been used in the production of

since the days of the Spanish missions.

Prevalence

In 1992, the Mission cultivar represented just over eight percent of California's overall olive acreage. Mission olives were dominant until 1875, when

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

n immigrants introduced the Manzanilla cultivar; subsequent introductions further reduced the percentage of Mission trees in California. After Manzanilla and Sevillana, however, it remains one of the more common cultivars in the state. The

Oroville Oroville may refer to: * Oroville, California, United States * Oroville, Washington, United States ;Other uses * Lake Oroville, in Butte County, California, USA * Oroville Dam, in Butte County, California, USA * Oroville Municipal Airport, in Butt ...

district in Butte County is a major Mission producer.

Origin

Olive trees were first brought to California by the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

mission of San Diego de Alcalá; olive production likely began in earnest within the first two decades of the mission. The original trees suffered after the secularization of the missions, though pioneers cultivated new trees from their cuttings, leading to the distinct Mission cultivar. Though researchers at the University of Córdoba presumed the Mission olive to be of Spanish origin, they were unable to establish its relationship with any of 700 Spanish cultivars. Recent

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

testing in California suggests the Mission olive could be related to Picholine Marocaine, a Moroccan cultivar. Spanish settlers likely brought what would become the Mission trees to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

first.

References

{{olives Olive cultivars Californian cuisine Agriculture in California

Description

Uses

Prevalence

Origin

See also

References