**2.2.** *Olea laperrinei*

26 Olive Germplasm – The Olive Cultivation, Table Olive and Olive Oil Industry in Italy

**Figure 1.** Phenotypic aspect of *Olea europaea* subsp. *cuspidata* trees

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The fruit is a drupe whose shape varies from globose to ellipsoid, it is 6 mm in diameter and 15 to 25 mm long. The drupe is fleshy, glaucous to a dull shine when ripe, and purple-black. The tree usually flowers in spring. The wood is much - prized and durable and it is used for

The *Olea europaea* subsp. *laperrinei* is restricted to the massifs of central - southern Sahara and eastern Sahel (Wickens, 1976; Quézel, 1978; Maley, 1980; Médail *et al.*, 2001; Green, 2002). The *Olea europaea* subsp. *laperrinei* are present at high altitudes, from 1800 to 2800 m, on volcanic or eruptive rocks, generally in cliffs and canyon banks . This taxon is adapted to very dry conditions and in Hoggar, a highland region in southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer, it persists in areas reaching a mean rainfall of about 20 – 100 mm *per* year (Quézel, 1965).

The *Olea europaea* subsp. *laperrinei* trees reach a height of 1.5 - 3 m and their trunk is mainly monocaulous. Leaves have a lanceolate - linear to linear aspect, 2.8 - 4 to 5 - 7 cm long and 0.3 – 0.5 to 1 - 1.5 cm wide. They are ashy-green above and whitish - silvery beneath in colour and their apex is clearly mucronate. The median vein is flat or canaliculated and the petiole is 0.2 - 0.4 cm in length. Flowers are 4 - 6mm in diameter, white, with bracteoles present and well developed. Fruit are borne in panicles. Their shape is ovoid - globose, they are 4 - 5 mm in diameter and 5 - 8 mm long. The pulp is purplish in colour (Medail *et al.*, 2001).
