Olea europaea Lucques - Olive Tree

The 'Lucques' Olive is an ancient variety originating from Italy. It produces elongated olives, crescent-shaped, with smooth, fleshy skin. They are consumed as green olives and for oil. The 'Lucques' Olive is not self-fertile. It is not very cold-resistant and quite susceptible to diseases. It is biennially bearing. Harvest takes place in September for green olives, and in November and December for oil. The extracted oil has a light, ripe, fruit flavour, with hints of apple and almond.

The expansion of the olive tree is linked to the establishment of the Mediterranean climate: it is the major constraint for its cultivation. The domestication of the olive tree is believed to have taken place six millennia ago. Olive trees are long-lived trees. The oldest olive tree in the world is now 3000 years old. The Olive 'Lucques'  originates from Italy, most likely from the province of Lucques. Its first registration with the COV dates back to 1970.

The olive tree is a very ramous tree, with nodose trunk, hard and dense wood, and cracked brown bark.
The leaves are elongated ovals, borne on a short, fairly hard, dentate margin, curled on the edges, shiny dark green on the upper surface, and light green with a prominent midrib on the lower surface. The foliage is evergreen, always green, but that doesn't mean its leaves are immortal: they are constantly renewed.
The small white flowers are grouped in small clusters of 10 to 20, growing in the axil of the leaves, in April-May, on the wood of the previous year. The Olive 'Lucques'  is not self-fertile: the male flowers are sterile. The presence of pollinators is therefore obligatory. 'Amellau', 'Corniale', 'Cayon', 'Cornicabra' are the most suitable varieties. It produces elongated olives, crescent-shaped, with smooth, fleshy skin. They are consumed as green olives and for oil. The extracted oil has a light, ripe, fruit flavour, with hints of apple and almond.

Green olives are not consumed at the base of the tree. They must first be prepared to remove any bitterness. There are many methods for preserving these green table olives. All are based on the same principle, in 3 steps. 1/ Remove the bitterness, either with a quick caustic soda bath or a more traditional and slower ash lye solution. 2/ Rinse. 3/ Brine them with or without fermentation. For black olives, removing the bitterness is not necessary.

Table olives are consumed once prepared. They can also be used to produce olive oil.