We often receive messages and photos of olive trees that were bought without a specific variety being specified, or that were given as gifts, with the request to name the variety.

Unfortunately, determining the variety of olive tree is no longer that easy, but there are some varieties that are particularly popular in certain locations and you can get some help identifying them. We will now explain how this works:

1. Identification based on the leaves - Identifying the variety based on the leaves alone is very difficult as there are some varieties that look very similar. However, there are some varieties that can also be identified based on the density of the leaf pairs (e.g. Cornicabra ) or based on the color (Hojibianca = white leaf olive).
2. Identification based on the fruit - It is easier when the tree is already bearing fruit and you can judge the shape of the fruit in combination with the leaves. The number of olives can also give information about the variety, for example the " Arbequina " variety has a very, very heavy fruit load and the fruits grow almost like panicles on the tree.

Finally, we must mention at this point that a subsequent determination of the variety is always only a probability. After all, there are already more than 5,000 registered olive varieties worldwide. The safest option is always to buy a cultivated young plant where the exact variety name is stated.