What does it look like?
African olive is a dense, bushy shrub or small tree that usually grows to less than 7 metres tall. When it’s young, the stems are angular and slightly scaly. As the plant matures, the bark becomes rough and textured.
The leaves are narrow and lance‑shaped, growing in pairs along the stem. They’re dark green on top and paler underneath, often with a silvery or scaly appearance. This is one way to tell it apart from the European olive, which has much whiter leaf undersides.
From July through to March, African olive produces small whitish flowers with a strong scent. These are followed by glossy, oval‑shaped fruit that ripen from green to red, then black.
Birds, and possibly possums and livestock, eat the fruit and spread the seeds, helping the plant spread. African olive commonly escapes from gardens and hedges and is often found in waste places
Why is it a problem?
African olive can form dense, long‑lived stands that crowd out other plants. It grows in both open areas and the forest understorey and can quickly fill gaps in the canopy where light gets through. Once established, it prevents native seedlings from growing.
It spreads easily by producing large numbers of long‑lived seeds. These seeds are carried by birds and other animals, helping African olive spread over wide areas. It can also spread vegetatively, sending up new shoots from suckers, and is sometimes spread by people through planting and cultivation.
African olive is highly adaptable. It tolerates drought, heat, wind, salt, damage and moderate shade, which allows it to thrive in a wide range of environments. It’s most likely to invade dry, disturbed forests and shrublands, bare land, and coastal areas, including inshore islands.
Control methods
Physical control
Remove systematically to minimise reintroduction by birds. Pull or dig small plants (all year round). Leave on site to rot down.
Herbicide control
Cut and squirt (all year round): Make 1 cut every 100 mm around the trunk and apply metsulfuron-methyl 600g/kg (1g) to each cut. Or,
Cut down and paint stump (all year round) using metsulfuron-methyl 600g/kg (5g/L). Or,
Spray (all year round) with metsulfuron-methyl 600g/kg (5g/10L).
Cut stumps resprout. Plant reseeds in bared areas. Garden and hedge sources should be removed. Avoid soil disturbance, replant bared sites where possible.
CAUTION: When using any herbicide or pesticide, PLEASE READ THE LABEL THOROUGHLY to ensure that all instructions and safety requirements are followed.
More information
The commonly cultivated European olive (Olea europaea subspecies europaea) which has white leaf undersides and black fruit (1-2 cm long) can also become weedy.
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