In article >, Donald Martinich > wrote:
>In article >,
> Karen AKA Kajikit > wrote:
>
>> Sadly yes... some bright sparks decided that Australia didn't have
>> enough problems with imported plants and started an olive kick. (I say
>> 'sadly' because we all know how well olives grow in harsh climates -
>> they can outcompete native plants quite easily...)
>
>I don't know who fed you that line, but you needn't worry. Olives can
>reproduce from seed but rarely beyond the original grove. I've never
>seen a volunteer growing more than about 5 feet beyond the dripline and
>most of those are the result of ground squirrel activity. We've got a
>number of abandoned olive groves in my part of the world (California's
>Sacramento Valley) and they never expand beyond the original plantings.

It sounds like the Valley must have a suitable climate and soils for
olives if they are self-sowing around the original trees (though
perhaps the heavy seed fall in such circumstances would mitigate some
environmental disadvantages). However, if you don't have an efficent
dispersal mechanism (birds that swallow olives, for example) then that
may be the reason they have not spread more widely over there?
(Maybe it's our koalas rather than birds spitting the pips around. ;-)

Cheers, Phred.

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LID