What kind of leaf did the dove bring back to Noah in the Genesis Ark story?

In the Genesis Ark story, the dove brings Noah an olive leaf.

Genesis 8 says Noah first sends out a raven and later releases a dove to test whether the floodwaters have receded. The dove returns because it finds no resting place. After seven days, Noah sends it out again, and it comes back in the evening carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf. Noah then understands that the waters have diminished from the earth.

The olive leaf is a concrete sign that vegetation has reappeared or remained accessible, unlike the earlier bird-flight test. The passage does not say that the dove found a whole olive tree, only that it returned with a leaf.

Because of this episode, a dove carrying an olive branch became a widely recognized symbol of peace and hope. The biblical account itself says “olive leaf,” while later artistic representations commonly show a larger branch. That visual convention is related to the story but is not its exact wording.