African olive

The wild olive of the Eritrean flag – a symbol of peace and a tree that once covered the entire highlands around Asmara.

An African and Asian subspecies of the European olive, forming a tree up to 10–15 m tall, with narrow leaves that are green above and rusty and scaly beneath. The fruits are small, dark and not very fleshy, so they are unsuitable for pressing oil, but birds eat them eagerly. The very hard wood is used to make tools and the twigs to clean teeth, while the smoke of burning wood is traditionally used to smoke milk vessels.

Significance in the country

The olive branch and wreath on the Eritrean flag echo the flag of the 1950s and symbolise peace; wild olives and junipers once formed the forests of the highlands, of which mainly fragments survive around churches and on escarpments.

Where it grows

In the central and southern highlands and on their escarpments – around Asmara, in the Southern and Anseba regions (around Keren) and on the eastern escarpment in the Filfil area.

More: Wikipedia (en)