<P> The immediate ancestry of the cultivated olive is unknown . O. europaea may have arisen from O. chrysophylla in northern tropical Africa and was introduced into the countries of the Mediterranean Basin via Egypt and then Crete or the Levant, Tunisia, and Asia Minor . Fossil Olea pollen has been found in Macedonia and other places around the Mediterranean, indicating that this genus is an original element of the Mediterranean flora . Fossilized leaves of Olea were found in the palaeosols of the volcanic Greek island of Santorini (Thera) and were dated about 37,000 BP . Imprints of larvae of olive whitefly Aleurolobus (Aleurodes) olivinus were found on the leaves . The same insect is commonly found today on olive leaves, showing that the plant - animal co-evolutionary relations have not changed since that time . Other leaves found on the same island are dated back to 60,000 BP, making them the oldest known olives from the Mediterranean . </P> <P> As far back as 3000 BC, olives were grown commercially in Crete; they may have been the source of the wealth of the Minoan civilization . </P> <P> Olives are not native to the Americas . Spanish colonists brought the olive to the New World, where its cultivation prospered in present - day Peru and Chile . The first seedlings from Spain were planted in Lima by Antonio de Rivera in 1560 . Olive tree cultivation quickly spread along the valleys of South America's dry Pacific coast where the climate was similar to the Mediterranean . Spanish missionaries established the tree in the 18th century in California . It was first cultivated at Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1769 or later around 1795 . Orchards were started at other missions, but in 1838, an inspection found only two olive orchards in California . Cultivation for oil gradually became a highly successful commercial venture from the 1860s onward . In Japan, the first successful planting of olive trees happened in 1908 on Shodo Island, which became the cradle of olive cultivation . An estimated 865 million olive trees are in the world today (as of 2005), and the vast majority of these are found in Mediterranean countries, with traditionally marginal areas accounting for no more than 25% of olive - planted area and 10% of oil production . </P> <P> Olive oil has long been considered sacred . The olive branch was often a symbol of abundance, glory, and peace . The leafy branches of the olive tree were ritually offered to deities and powerful figures as emblems of benediction and purification, and they were used to crown the victors of friendly games and bloody wars . Today, olive oil is still used in many religious ceremonies . Over the years, the olive has also been used to symbolize wisdom, fertility, power, and purity . </P>

When was the olive tree introduced to north america