What is the difference between areca nut and olive? Teach you the correct way to tell them apart
Areca nut is also known as areca seed, dafuzi, binmen, olive seed, green nut, etc., and is an evergreen tree of the genus Areca in the palm family Arecaceae. Olive is also known as huanglan, green fruit, shanlan, bailan, honglan, qingzi, jianguo, zhongguo, etc., and is a tree of the genus Olea in the family Oleaceae. It is a very good windbreak tree species and street tree. Let's take a look below at what differences there are between areca nut and olive!
The difference in family and genus between areca nut and olive
1. Areca nut: Areca nut is an evergreen tree in the plant kingdom, angiosperms, monocotyledons, Arecales, Arecaceae, Arecoideae, Areceae, genus Areca.
2. Olive: plant kingdom, angiosperms, dicotyledons, Rosidae, Rutales, Rutineae, Oleaceae, genus Olea tree.
The morphological difference between areca nut and olive
1. Areca nut: The stem of the areca nut is erect, tree-like, more than 10 m tall, and can reach up to 30 m at the highest. It has obvious ring-shaped leaf scars, is monoecious, the inflorescence is much branched, the ovary is oblong, the fruit is oblong or ovoid, the seed is ovate, and the flowering and fruiting period is March to April.
2. Olive: The olive can reach up to 35 m tall, with a diameter at breast height of up to 150 cm. There are 3-6 pairs of leaflets, papery to leathery, with 12-16 pairs of lateral veins and a well-developed midvein. The inflorescence is axillary. The infructescence is 1.5-15 cm long, with 1-6 fruits. Ovoid to spindle-shaped, yellow-green when mature, with a thick exocarp, a hard stone, pointed at both ends, and a roughened stone surface. The flowering period is April to May, and the fruit matures in October to December.
The difference in origin between areca nut and olive
1. Areca nut: Areca nut is native to Malaysia, mainly distributed in Southeast Asia, tropical Asia, East Africa and parts of Europe. In the Pacific region, it is mainly distributed in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu and Micronesia, with scattered distribution on Pohnpei Island, the United States Minor Outlying Islands of the Mariana Islands and the Marshall Islands. Areca nut cultivation in the Hawaiian Islands is only for ornamental purposes.
2. Olive: Olive is native to southern China, and is cultivated in Fujian, Taiwan, China, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other regions. It grows wild in gully and hillside mixed forests below 1,300 m above sea level, or is cultivated in courtyards and beside villages. It is distributed from northern to central Vietnam, and is also cultivated in Japan and the Malay Peninsula.
The difference in effects between areca nut and olive
1. Areca nut: Areca nut has the effects of killing parasites, breaking accumulations, descending qi and moving stagnation, and promoting water movement and resolving dampness. It was once used to treat parasitic infections such as tapeworm, hookworm, roundworm, pinworm, and fasciolopsis.
2. Olive: Olive is sweet and sour in taste, neutral in nature, and enters the spleen, stomach, and lung meridians. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, soothing the throat and resolving phlegm, promoting fluid production and quenching thirst, and relieving restlessness and sobering up from alcohol. It is suitable for sore and swollen throat, polydipsia, cough with blood-streaked phlegm, and other symptoms.