The cultivator Pendolino originates from the central Italy. It is known also as “Maurino firentino”. It is a medium strong variety; the tree has a pronounced weeping growth. It produces a large number of pollen and is considered a good pollinator for many Italian cultivars. The commercial production starts relatively early and the oil quality is considered good. As the tree form is clearly weepy it is not very suitable for harvest mechanization with trunk shakers. The fruit is relatively small.
Geographical
Distribution
The origin of this cultivar is Tuscany but is not considered there as one of the major cultivars. It is however, widely spread both in its original region, in other parts of Italy and some other countries as a pollinator for other Italian cultivars. It can be found in various orchards in Australia and recently also in Argentina.
Description
| Tree |
The tree is medium strong with typical weeping branches. It is a slow growing tree in its original growing area without irrigation. The crown of the tree is dense. |
| Leaf |
The leaves are relatively small, broad, elliptic in shape, relatively thin and have a dark green-grey colour. |
| Flower |
The inflorescences are long with about 25 flowers per inflorescence. The number of incomplete flowers is low and the amount of polled produced is particularly high. |
| Stone |
The stone is small, elongated and pointed at both ends, slightly asymmetric and has a rather smooth surface. |
| Fruit |
The fruit is small – about 2 grams, elongated slightly asymmetric, the apex is slightly pointed, lenticels are abundant and small. The colour of the fruit at maturation is a uniform dark black. |
Agronomic Characteristics
The major utilization of this cultivar is for pollination of others. On the other hand it also needs a pollinator for normal fruit production, as it is self-incompatible. Under good growing conditions production is good and alternance low. It is a mid season variety and has a relatively low fruit attachment force. At full maturation the oil content is about 20-22% of fresh weight. The oil is considered of good quality. The Pendolino showed a good tolerance to low temperature in Tuscany but is very susceptible to most of the common diseases i.e: Peacock spot, Olive knot and various others. It is not heavily attacked by the olive fly.
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