Variety Selection

Nurseries may need a year’s notice to ensure selected varieties are available for spring planting. California’s “ripe” table olive processors primarily favor Manzanillo with Sevillano (Gordal) as a pollinizer, while Sicilian-style and Spanish-style processers prefer Sevillano (Gordal). Small table olive processors have used other varieties for these and other curing styles. Arbequina is California’s most widely planted oil variety, although California oil producers have marketed all varieties in the table below as single-varietal olive oils, even traditional table olive varieties such as Ascolano, Mission, Sevillano and Manzanillo.

No single olive variety has every desirable characteristic. Comparison of some common olive varieties are in the table below, primarily based on information from the World Catalogue of Olive Varieties, modified by other sources to include varieties not addressed in the catalogue.

Variety	Use	Oil	Olive fly	Verticillium wilt	Peacock spot	Olive knot	Cold	Ripening	Vigor	Productivity
ARBEQUINA*	Oil	High	Sensitive	Sensitive	Sensitive	Medium	Resistant	Early-Mid	Low	High & constant
ARBOSANA*	Oil	High			Sensitive	Sensitive	Sensitive	Early-Mid	Low	High & constant
ASCOLANO	Table	Medium	Sensitive		Resistant	Resistant	Resistant	Early	High	Med & constant
CORATINA	Oil	High					Resistant	Late	Medium	High & constant
FRANTOIO	Oil	Medium	Sensitive	Resistant	Sensitive	Sensitive	Sensitive	Late	Medium	High & constant
HOJIBLANCA	Dual	Medium	Medium	Sensitive	Sensitive	Sensitive	Resistant	Late	Med-High	High & alternate
KALAMON	Dual	Medium	Resistant	Sensitive	Sensitive	Resistant	Medium	Late	High	High & alternate
KORONEIKI*	Oil	High		Medium	Resistant	Sensitive	Sensitive	Early-Mid	Medium	High & constant
MANZANILLO	Table	Medium	Sensitive	V.Sensitive	Sensitive	Sensitive	Sensitive	Early	Low-Med	High & alternate
MISSION	Dual	High		Sensitive	Sensitive	Resistant	Resistant	Late	High	Med & alternate
PICHOLINE	Dual	Medium	Medium	Medium	Resistant		Medium	Late	Medium	High & constant
PICUAL	Oil	High	Sensitive	Sensitive	Sensitive	Resistant	Resistant	Early	Medium	High & constant
SEVILLANO	Table	Low	Sensitive		Resistant	Sensitive	Resistant	Early	Med-High	Low & alternate
TAGGIASCA	Oil	High	Sensitive			Sensitive	Sensitive	Late	High	High & constant