the Olive tree

 The Olive (Olea europaea L.) is said to be one of the first plants cultivated by man. It is used to produce both olives and olive oil, basic foodstuffs in the Mediterranean diet. In most European languages the name for this tree comes from the Latin word ol?vum. In Andalusia we also use words (aceite, aceituna) derived from the Arabic az-záyt and from the Berber az-zabbú? (acebuche or wild olive). In the orchards and gardens at the Alhambra and Generalife we have numerous examples, some of them very, very old. In fact, the Council of the Alhambra and Generalife owns and manages a 55 hectare olive grove next to the monument. The olives it produces belong to the traditional autochthonous variety "Lucio", and are organically farmed. We have chosen the olive tree as the plant of the month for December as this is the time when the olives are harvested for oil production.