As a symbol of peace, security, and plenty, olive trees have offered food and shelter to people from the beginning of human history. They are believed to have originated around the shores of the Mediterranean well over 5,000 years ago, and were first brought to America in the 15th century. Evidence suggests that drinking olive leaf tea has been a method employed for many hundreds of years by Middle East cultures to treat such disorders as coughs, sore throat, cystitis, and fever. In addition, poultices of the olive leaves are used to treat boils, rashes, warts and other skin problems. It wasn't until the early 1800's, however, that olive leaves came to the attention of the medical establishment. A French colonel , Etiene Pallas, M.D., examined the leaf's constituents and isolated a crystallizable compound he named vauqueline, a bitter substance to which he credited most of the febrifuge (fever-reducing) properties. It was also looked as a start of modern researches of olive leave extract.