Olive, Olea europaea L., is an important tree for both the edible fruit and the olive oil produced from them. Olive generally have to be processed to be edible. I have heard of jokes being played on unsuspecting tourist similar to what we could do with green persimmons, . Olive are only hardy into zone 8 so growing any in north Alabama would require winter protection such as a green house, but fortunately olive trees are not very big rarely exceeding 50 feet. Olives prefer alkaline soil types and thrive in warm dry Mediterranean climates. The have been grown for a very long time with several trees reported to exceed 1, 2 and even 3 thousand years of age. Some of these are in the Garden of Gethsemane, meaning olive press in Hebrew, where Jesus prayed after the last supper just before being captured, tried, and crucified. .
In the Bible olives were about the second plant mentioned that can clearly be identified. This was when the dove returned to the ark with an olive branch at the end of the great flood. Consequentially both olive branches and doves are symbols of peace. The oil is a valuable commodity considering how a Elisha told the widow in II Kings 4 to borrow containers to fill by pouring oil from a cruise so she could then sell it to pay a debt owed by her late husband and thus preventing her sons from being taken as slaves instead. The oil is mentioned nearly 6 times as often as any other reference to the olive and this is third most important plant based staple mentioned after grapes or wine and the even more important grains and bread.
