The Bosana is the most common

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

s in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

. It makes up over 50% of the olive production on the island. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but it could refer to an alleged origin in the territory of

Bosa Bosa is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Oristano (until May 2005 it was in the province of Nuoro), part of the Sardinia region of Italy. Bosa is situated about two-thirds of the way up the west coast of Sardinia, on a small hill, abou ...

. It is maintained, however, that the cultivar is of Spanish origin. It is used primarily for oil, but can also be eaten. The Bosana is a variety well adapted to less hospitable environments.

Extent

The Bosana is particularly common in the olive-growing areas in the centre and north of Sardinia (

Sassari Sassari (, ; sdc, Sàssari ; sc, Tàtari, ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 127,525 inhabitants, and a Functional Urban Area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, ...

Nurra The Nurra is a geographical region in the northwest of Sardinia, Italy. It is the second largest plain of the island, located between the towns of Sassari, Porto Torres and Alghero. It covers a surface of 700 km² and is bounded by the S ...

, Marghine, Planargia) and to a lesser degree also in central southern Sardinia, particularly in some districts of the province of

Medio Campidano Medio (Spanish for "half") may refer to: * Mediopassive voice in grammar * Dolores Medio, a Spanish writer * Medio Creek in Texas * Arroyo del Medio in Argentina * Medio, a company * Medio, any of various halfpieces of currency across Latin Americ ...

. This olive variety can also be found in

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Synonyms

It is generally accepted that other varieties of local extent are identical to the Bosana. Synonyms that are mentioned in the literature include: Palma, Aligaresa, Algherese, Tonda di Sassari, Sassarese, Olia de Ozzu, Olieddu, Sivigliana piccola and Bosinca. For the most part these are names identifying other varieties of limited range, that are local types of the Bosana.

Characteristics

It is a cultivar of middle strength, with an expansive

growth 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 (forbs and graminoids), etc. The s ...

, plain, elliptic-lanceolate

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

, an open crown, and average size. The olives are of middle weight (2.5–3 g), slightly egg shaped and quite symmetrical, with the greater diameter towards the top. The apex of the stone is rounded and smooth. The surface is covered in tiny

lenticel A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It functions as a pore, providing a ...

s. The maturation process starts at the apex and advances from there. When mature, the colour of the fruit is black. It is a middle-to-late cultivar, in Medio Campidano it matures between November and December.

Processing

Traditionally considered a dual use cultivar, it is in reality mainly used for extraction of oil, and gives a good yield (17–18%). The quality of the oil is improved if the olives are collected early, at the start of the maturation. Its taste is described as "fruity, bitter and spicy". The fruits of greater size are often transformed to table olives, whether green or black. They are considered to have the quality of not fading during the process.

Agronomy

It is considered a very productive cultivar, well adapted to use in intensive growth olive groves, also under difficult conditions for growing and harvesting. It lends itself better to alternating use, but in intensive olive groves this can be amended with different forms of land management ( manuring,

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

and pruning). It is generally agreed that the cultivar is self-sterile, so it can take advantage of a certain presence of

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s. Among the olive cultivars used for pollination are the Nera di Gonnos (Tonda di Cagliari), Pizz'e carroga, Nera di Oliena (Nera di Villacidro or Paschixedda) and Cariasina. It does not show and particular vulnerability to the major

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

, with the exception of the peacock butterfly (''Aglais io''), this particularly in the dampest parts of north-central Sardinia. It has an average sensitivity to the

olive fruit fly The olive fruit fly (''Bactrocera oleae'') is a species of fruit fly which belongs to the subfamily Dacinae. It is a phytophagous species whose larvae feed on the fruit of olive trees, hence the common name. It is considered a serious pest in t ...

, and a high resistance to heat,

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s and ''

Pseudomonas savastanoi ''Pseudomonas savastanoi'' is a gram-negative plant pathogenic bacterium that infects a variety of plants. It was once considered a pathovar of ''Pseudomonas syringae,'' but following DNA-relatedness studies, it was instated as a new species. It ...

''.

References

{{Olives Olive cultivars Flora of Sardinia Bosa