A lot has been said about olives and most of it has to do with extra virginity.

So imagine my surprise and shock to discover that olives actually have sex! Well, not the olives… But let it suffice to say that having never considered the intimacy of olive trees, I was flabbergasted to discover that olive trees are either male or female.

So how does one go about distinguishing the machos from the maidens? First of all the male trees are bigger, stronger, have more vegetation and are a darker shade of green; the females are slimmer and more silvery in color. You can also tell the sex of the trees sex by the shape of their fruit: the male olives are longer and pointy whereas the females are more rotund. Is this starting to sound familiar?

The correct proportion of males to females is one in ten (which doesn’t seem fair) but then pollination occurs by means of the wind.

I am however, deeply disappointed. Is there nothing sacred anymore? My perception of olive groves - with those wise, ancient and austere beings - has now been shattered forever!

(After this article was published on Italian Notebook I received an email from a reader who sent me THE FACTS about olives.  Many varieties of trees are actually self-pollinating: the trees produce two kinds of flowers;  one containing both a male and female organ and the other with  only a  stamen.    However, I have heard the male vs. female version so many times from local oil producers here in Campania, that I guess ours must be the latin lover variety!)