The Germaine is a cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...

 of olive

Olive

The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

s grown primarily in Corsica

Corsica

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

, but also in parts of northern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. Genetically it is close to the cultivar Frantoïo, that is grown in the Italian region of Tuscany

Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

. The Germaine has a good yield of oil, and the plant is resistant to cold weather.

Synonyms

The name of the olive is spelt in a number of different ways, including Ghjermana (or Ghjermana de Balagne), Ghermana and Germana. In some parts of Corsica and in Perugia, it is also referred to as Romana.

Characteristics

It is a cultivar of middle strength, with a spreading growth form

Plant life-form

Plant life-form schemes constitute a way of classifying plants alternatively to the ordinary species-genus-family scientific classification. In colloquial speech, plants may be classified as trees, shrubs, herbs , etc...

 and elliptic leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 that are short and of medium width. The olives are of medium weight, their shape is ovoid and they are symmetrical. The stone has a rounded apex and base, with a smooth surface and the presence of a mucro. When fully mature, the colour of the fruit is black.

Processing and agronomy

The Germaine is a dual use cultivar, that can be used both for extraction of oil

Olive oil

Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...

, and as a table olive. Its yield of oil can be very high; more than 30%. It is considered a cultivar of good and constant production. The smell of the oil has been compared to pumpkin

Pumpkin

A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...

peel, while the taste is described as creamy, yet intense. The Germaine is valued for its good resistance to cold weather.