MISSION
Country: United States of America
Purpose: Dual-purpose (table and oil)
Distribution: California, especially in the Sacramento Valley.
Synonyms: “Mammoth”, “Misionera”, “Misiones”, “Trilye”
Agronomic and commercial considerations:
It has become the most important table olive variety in California, accounting for 50% of production. We first found the Mission variety in the orchards of the Jesuit and Franciscan missions, founded several centuries ago in different parts of California. The oil was extracted in the towns that developed around the missions, where it was used for cooking, healing wounds and lubricating machinery, as was done in Europe throughout its history. It has a medium flowering time and is partially self-compatible. The upright habit of this variety facilitates mechanical harvesting. It ripens late. It has a high productivity but is an alternate variety. It is a dual-purpose cultivar, the separation of the pulp from the seed is easy and the oil is of excellent quality, especially that produced in Butte County (Sacramento Valley). The cultivar is drought tolerant, but susceptible to olive leaf spot (Cycloconium oleaginum) and verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae) and shows some tolerance to olive knot (Pseudomonas savastanoi).
