Description
It grows as a bushy tree to 30 m (100 ft), often with a sparse canopy. The trunk has smooth grey-brown bark and reaches a maximum diameter of 90 cm (36 in) with some buttressing. The shiny green ovate to elliptical eaves measure 5–10 cm (2–4 in) in length, and1.5–6 cm (0.6–2.4 in) 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.
Read more about this topic: Olea Paniculata
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