One leaf, two sides
Vive Cabeceiras · Hillside crops · olive botany

The olive tree’s silvery side also tells a story.

The municipality’s landscape description includes olive trees on the hillsides of Cabeceiras. The cultivated olive has leaves that are grey-green above and silvery-grey beneath, where hairs grow. Its small flowers have four white petals joined at the base.

The fruit is the olive, an oil-rich drupe. The University of Évora’s description follows the change from green to reddish and dark shades during ripening, but also mentions forms that remain green when ripe. Colour alone does not tell the fruit’s whole story. The connection from tree to olive oil continues in the story of the Ramil oil mill.

The profile distinguishes the cultivated olive from its wild form, known in Portuguese as zambujeiro. The latter is described as having smaller leaves and fruits and thorny lower branches. This comparison shows why a single feature, such as the silvery underside of a leaf, does not explain every difference.

The olive is evergreen: it retains foliage throughout the year. You can therefore return to the same tree in different seasons and compare leaves, flowers and fruits, without expecting to find them all at once.

Sources and context
University of Évora — Virtual Museum of Biodiversity, Olea europaea
https://museubiodiversidade.uevora.pt/elenco-de-especies/biodiversidade-actual/plantas/angiospermicas/olea-europaea/
Accessed: 2026-11-07
Municipality — landscape and vegetation
https://www.cabeceirasdebasto.pt/turismo-locais-turisticos
Accessed: 2026-11-07

Editorial summary. The date of consultation is not the date of the facts.
Text and recipe, when available. Photos, activities and updates on the page:
https://vivecabeceiras.pt/en/descobrir/terra-viva/?leitura=oliveira-prateada#oliveira-prateada