What leaf did the dove bring back to Noah from the Flood waters?

The dove brought Noah a freshly plucked olive leaf from the Flood waters.

Genesis 8:8–11 describes Noah sending out a dove to test whether the waters had receded. The dove first found no place to land and returned to the Ark. When Noah sent it again, it came back in the evening carrying an olive leaf, showing that vegetation had reappeared or become reachable.

The event is one of the best-known scenes in the Ark narrative because the leaf provides a concrete sign that the land was becoming habitable. A later release of the dove produced no return, helping Noah infer that the waters had receded sufficiently.

The olive branch or leaf later became a broad symbol of peace, although the Genesis passage specifically uses the leaf as evidence about the condition of the earth. It does not say that the dove carried a branch, a fig leaf, or another plant.