Russian Olive

Color/Appearance: Color ranges from a light yellowish-brown to a darker golden brown, sometimes with a greenish hue. Sapwood a much lighter yellow-white.

Grain/Texture: Unlike true Olive (Olea genus), Russian Olive is very porous and of an uneven grain texture.

Endgrain: Ring-porous; 5-10 rows of medium to large earlywood pores, exclusively solitary latewood pores grading from medium to small; tyloses sometimes present; medium to wide rays visible without lens, spacing wide; parenchyma generally not visible with hand lens, or diffuse-in-aggregates (barely visible).

Rot Resistance: No data available.

Workability: No data available.

Odor: No characteristic odor.

Allergies/Toxicity: Besides the standard health risks associated with any type of wood dust, no further health reactions have been associated with Russian Olive. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

Pricing/Availability: Russian Olive tends to be a very small tree, with a highly branching form that is not conducive to large or straight logs. Wood is limited to small-scale and hobbyist uses. Being a fairly common and fast-growing tree, prices should be moderate.

Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Common Uses: Knife scales, bowls, pens, and other small woodturning projects.