Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata (Wall. & G.Don) Cif.

This tree is propagated by seeds and stem cuttings. Steps to follow: 1. Seed propagation: • Sow collected seeds in seed tray filled with a ratio of 3 peat moss: 1 compost, 5 cm apart. • Irrigate the seed tray three times a week. • Germination commences from 1–3 months onward. Seed germination of this species is low and average germination is around 18%. 2. Cutting propagation: • For stem cutting propagation, use soft, semi-mature and hard cutting with at least 5 nodes. For better rooting, use cutting hormone and plant them in pots filled with a ratio of 1 peat: 3 perlites: 1 compost. Leave cuttings in a cool shaded area under mist system to keep them wet. • Stem rooting can vary from 2–3 months, with average rooting around 8%.

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Wild Olive
African Olive
Brown Olive
Iron Tree
Indian Olive
Small-fruited Olive

In Omani studies: Miller & Morris (1988) wrote that: "This tree which grows in the wooded areas of the monsoon mountains in Dhofar, was in former times of the greatest importance. It provided the hardest, closest-grained wood of the area, and was therefore in heavy demand for making implements essential to daily life as well as the weapons which were used in the frequent internecine conflicts. In particular, the wood was used to make the short heavy staff [J: xotrok], without which no adult male would go anywhere, and the throwing stick [J: ekit], formerly carried as a weapon, which was pointed at both ends, a thickened section in the middle [J: kursodot] providing the handhold. These two vital implements were made with great care, usually by a recognised expert. He firstly selected a suitable branch from the tree, cut it and roughly shaped it, removing the smaller side branches, ... leaves and twigs. Then he puts it in a liquid mixture of cow dung, urine and earth to soak for at least a week, after which the bark was easily removed from the heartwood [J: obbot]. Then the stick was curved into its final shape, hardened over a slow fire, then planed and rubbed down. Finally it was oiled and burnished at intervals with butter until it was smooth and glossy. Such sticks had a real marketable value, and were always in high demand. A pretty variant of the short heavy staff [J: xotrok] was made for camel herders and for the girls and young women who herded the immature livestock: the bark was cut round and removed at regular intervals along the length of a (slim) branch before the stick was soaked and fire hradened - the result when the whole of the bark was stripped off was a stick attractively striped in cream and dark brown. This was called [J: xotrok ekizi bis]. The beams and rafters of the town houses and the strong roof-supporting pillars and posts of the traditional round stone houses [J: esterit] and cattle byres [J: dekef, hasor] were made of this wood wherever possible. The wood is termite [J: ijderit] resistant, and likewise seems not to attract other wood-boring insects [J: kahaf, kidit]. The wood of this tree also made the strongest arrows and spears in the days when these were still in use, and the heartwood [J: ayziz, 'bone' or obbot, 'heart'] was shaped into spoons, ladles, scoops, stirrers, and the two flat pieces of wood linked at one end [J; me 'abdeb] which were used to extract the stones put to heat in the fire and then dropped into the milking bowl to scald the freshly drawn milk. The side twigs were shaped to make 'kohl' applicators [J: makhal] and the wedge-shaped sticks used to part the hair prior to plaiting it [J: mxadd]. A forked twig from this tree [J: mekelyut] was also used in dentistry: it was wedged with one arm of the fork each side of a diseased or painful tooth, and a sharp blow delivered to the base of the fork to dislodge the tooth. Wood of Acacia senegal was also good for this, both being woods that do not shatter when struck. As fuel too the wood of this tree was much in demand, both as firewood and for the manufacture of charcoal, both of which burned slowly with a good heat and gave out practically no smoke. The ash of the wood was highly regarded as a fertiliser, and branches were cut and carried to the site of the seasonal agricultural plots in the mountains, heaped up, allowed to dry out, then set alight and the resultant ash lightly mixed in with the earth just before the onset of the rains. Clumps of healthily growing Olea trees were regarded as being a reliable indicator of rich and fertile soil, and many garden plots were created on such sites, the trees being cut down and burned to clear the ground for planting and so that their ash might further enrich the soil. Locals attempts to grow the coveted tobacco were very dependent on the ash of this tree mixed with goat dung as a fertiliser for the hungry crop. The heavy demands made on this tree - in construction, for implements, as fuel - has meant that its numbers have sharply declined, and older people can point to hillside areas which in their memory were covered with a thick growth of these trees where now only a few ageing specimens remain as testimony to a richer and more abundant past. The foliage of the tree was cut for livestock only in years of drought and at the very beginning of the rains when other fodder was scarce, and the tiny fruit were not exploited by man nor eaten by livestock, other than goats. The flowers of the end of the summer were loved by bees, and the honey produced from the flowers of this tree was, like that from the jasmine and Pavetta longiflora, pale and clear, and commanded a good price. The other important benefit derived from this tree, important in the sugar-craving herding community, was the white cotton wool-like substance called J: dios, DA: mannah. This substance appears only at the very end of the hot summer season and then only in the very early morning when the dew is heavy. It presents a truly remarkable sight at this time; the tree glistens as if frosted, and strands of the sugary substance hang down in wisps and tatters from the tips of the branches like cotton wool. It is probably a kind of honey dew - the product of tiny aphids which feed on the rising sap and then excrete this sugary substance which is in excess of their bodily requirements - however, this is still to be confirmed. Children and adults used to go early in the morning and gorge on this treat, glorying in its sticky sweetness, their mouth, chests and hands stained black where the froth clung. The term 'manna' is applied to a variety of sugary exudations produced by various trees and shrubs, such as Tamarix gallica var. mannifera - a well known manna of the desert, or the sweet powdery substance obtained from the leguminous shrub Alhagi maurorum, which is also common in the deserts of the Middle East. The name dios in Jibbali means 'little honey', being a diminutive form of the word debs, 'honey'. It is interesting that the related species, Fraxinus ornus L., is widely cultivated in Sicily and Calabria in large plantations for the manna which is tapped from the trunk. This solidified sap is popular as a mild laxative, especially suitable for children. Medicinally, the plant was also useful in a variety of ways. It was one of the more successful [J: herum a us], that is 'plant for treating snakebite', much in demand in this area where snakes abound. The leaves and the outer and inner barks were pounded down to a paste with water, and applied to the site of the bite. Such a treatment was regarded as being particularly efficacious in treating the severe itching which follows a snake bite. The bark was also cut into thin shavings, crushed, put into water and heated, then left to cool and macerate overnight. The strained liquid was drunk in the morning on an empty stomach to relieve pains in the stomach and colic, or to treat a blockage or severe constipation. In the north of Oman the juice of the fruit was put in and around infected eyes, and was also used in the treatment of paralysis. Crushed fruit were mixed with salt and dates and applied to the site of a fracture". (Ref. Plants of Dhofar). In addition, Pickering & Patzelt (2008) mentioned that: "Has many culinary and medicinal uses. Fodder for goats". (Ref. Field Guide to the Wild Plants of Oman; 2008). Further, Patzelt (2015) stated that: "The fruis of the wild olive are not eaten by humans, as they have a bitter flavor, nor are they used for extracting oil. The wood is resikient to termites and is used for construction, to produces household goods, and for making charcoal. The branches were used as weapons in Southern Oman". (Ref. Photographic field guide to the plants of the Western Hajar Mountains). Furthermore, Ghazanfar (2015 ) wrote that: "The fruits of the wild olive are not eaten, being mostly bitter to taste, nor used for extracting oil, but at certain locations on the western Hajar mountains the fruits are sweet and edible. The wood is resistant to termites and has been used for building and for making utilitarian implements, firewood, and for making charcoal. The branches have been used for making “throwing sticks” used as a weapon in Dhofar. The foliage is lopped as fodder". (Ref. Flora of Oman; vol.3).

*Ghazanfar, S. (2015). Flora of the Sultanate of Oman, vol.3: Loganiaceae – Asteraceae. Meise, National Botanic Garden of Belgium (Scripta Botanica Begica, Vol. 25). ISBN 9789082352511 ISSN 0779-2387.*https://en.wikipedia.org *https://swbiodiversity.org *Miller, A., Morris, M. (1988). Plants of Dhofar, the Southern Region of Oman: Traditional, Economic, and Medicinal Uses. Published by Office of the Adviser for Conservation of the Environment, Diwan of Royal Court, Sultanate of Oman; ISBN 10: 0715708082 ISSN 13: 9780715708088. *Hammer, K. Gebauer, J. Al Khanjari, S. Buerkert, A. (2009). Oman at the cross-roads of inter-regional exchange of cultivated plants. Gene Resour Crop Evol (2009) 56:547-560. Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008. DOI 10.1007/s10722-008-9385-z. *Pickering, H. Patzelt, A. (2008). Field Guide to the Wild Plants of Oman. Kew publishing, Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. ISBN 9781842461778. *Patzelt, A. (2015). Photographic Field Guide to the Plants of the Western Hajar Mountains, Sultanate of Oman: with a complete checklist of vascular plant species. ... Sultan Qaboos University – Academic Publication and Outreach Department. P.O Pox (17) Postal Code (123), Muscat, Al khoudh, Sultanate of Oman. *POWO (2023). ""Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org