Índice

     

    Today we are going to talk about the olive blossom and his father Olivierso ancestral and symbolic that one could say that with the vine, it occupies the first place in longevity, usefulness, veneration and importance for humanity.

    Little is known that there are more than 200 varieties of olive tree, an incredible number of typologies thanks to its extraordinary pollination process, we emphasize this because it is commonly accepted that the olive tree is a unique tree in all regions.

    olive blossom

    olive blossom

    The protagonist of this article is the flower of the olive treeand that is why we are going to discover in the next lines what this ancient, simple and discreet flower has to tell us, but bears the seed of an exquisite, ancient and highly demanded fruit.

    What is the name of the olive flower

    The olive blossoms they announce the beginning of the process that the olive tree will undergo to finally offer its olives.

    The olive flower is called "rapa", and the term comes etymologically from the Catalan “rapa” with the same meaning; It is also often called "ground" That is "Eskimo" depending on location.

    Characteristics of olive blossom

    Even if there are more than 200 varieties of olive trees as we pointed out previously, it is curious that their flower is the same in all, the olive blossom is characterized by its four petals face-to-face targets in the shape of a cross with some delicate yellow and orange sparkles in its center.

    Other characteristic of olive flowers is that they are grouped in clusters, and these twigs can have between 10 and 40 flowers each. The number of flowers or rapa can be so large that they can even hide the leaves of the tree.

    Advice!

    ♥ TIP: If you want to learn more about flower therapy with the 38 Bach Flowersyou can't miss this complete guide 👈.

    The Bloom olive tree it's very short, we have it between May and June, and each flower does not last more than a week. It has been calculated that only three weeks pass between the first flower and the last.

    pollen of the male flower of the olive tree is really extraordinary, he can travel in the air for several days without losing his power of fertilize the female flower of olive tree hundreds of kilometers away.

    The flower of the olive tree has a natural programming not to pollinate neighboring trees, as if they were brothers, which is why it is designed to travel long distances in search of new families of olive trees and thus improve the 'species.

    As you may have noticed, on our site we are passionate about flowers, but we are also interested in everything that is born from mother earth and can be harvested, if you want to delve deeper into these questions, we invite you to recommend visiting this blog on agriculture in Spain where you will find information on quality in the sector.

    olive blossom

    We are going to concretize everything that has been said so far to summarize The main characteristics of olive blossom are:

    • whitish color
    • Four petals in the shape of a cross
    • Small calyx, uniform corolla and two stamens.
    • Slight, not intense odor
    • The flowers are grouped in clusters and their duration is short.
    • Flower pollination does not occur between neighboring trees

    We are now going to enter the less scientific but equally important and interesting part, we are going to talk about meaning that humanity has given to the olive blossom throughout history.

    Meaning of olive blossom

    there is a whole symbology on the olive treeand that includes its twisting trunk, slender leaves, inconspicuous flowers and prized fruit.

    The Greeks crowned their Olympic champions with a crown of olive trees which symbolized power and victory. Since before Christ, a dove with an olive branch in its beak signifying peace between the conflicting parties. Kings were anointed with olive oil considered a source of longevity.

    For the ancient Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, Christians and Muslims, the olive tree was a tree of divine originin this sense and since there are records, the stands of olive trees charged with a sacred meaning.

    An olive branch at the doors of the houses guarded the evil spirits because it symbolized divine strength as protection. And now you wonder, And the meaning of the olive blossom?

    Well, it's a flower with great meaning, the olive blossom is considered "the flower of liquid gold", is a flower that symbolizes value; for its short lifespan and its prowess in pollinating the olive blossom it is linked to the concepts of wisdom, courage, value, spirituality and hope.

    The olive blossom meaning It wouldn't be complete if one overlooked the fact that these transcendental concepts are contained in a simple, unassuming flower.

    olive blossom

    Curiosities of the olive blossom

    Now we share with you some very interesting and surprising data that we found about today's protagonist, so let's see some curiosities of the olive blossom:

    • The olive flower can be female, male (it produces pollen) or hermaphrodite (it has a stamen and a pistil), which allows it to give birth to a new fruit.
    • Only 2% of the total olive blossoms complete the cycle from germination to transformation into olive.
    • The number of flowers on the olive tree is a clear sign of the number of olives that can be expected at harvest.
    • It is called "lying" when the flower is imbuedits petals detach and a new embryo begins to form, which will give rise to the olive.
    • At the moment of maximum splendor of flowering, the olive tree seems to be covered with a delicate snow, and this image is reinforced when the feet of the olive tree are covered with a white blanket of flowers.
    • The oldest olive tree on our peninsula is in the Tarragonese town of Ulldecona. It is estimated to have 1,702 years of longevity.

    The next time you walk through an olive grove, take a minute to contemplate it, hopefully you can schedule a walk during the flowering season; remember that you already know his secrets well and it would be right for the olive tree to know yours too.