THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 39 



on the ground. Crush a bit of the stem or root in the fingers 

 and we have a rich spicy odor, not just Hke a "breath of 

 Araby" perhaps, but still sufficient to give us a liking for the 

 homely little plant. 



What though a few snowflakes fall from time to time it 

 is only a momentary relapse! By these signs we know that 

 spring is here and here to stay. 



ShusaUj N. Y. 



THE PISTACHIO NUT. 



/^NLY within a short time has the pistachio nut become 

 ^^ known in the United States, though it is almost as 

 old as history. The earliest mention of it is in Genesis 

 XLIII :II. The pistachio is the nut mentioned among the 

 list of presents which the children of Israel were commanded 

 to carry down to Joseph to secure the release of their brethern. 

 The list of articles includes myrrh, nuts and almonds. The 

 nuts are the pistachio nuts which are known today. 



Some authors give the natural habitat of the pistachio 

 nut as Italy, but that is slightly misleading. The nut is really 

 a native of Syria, where it grows in desert places and where 

 there is almost perpetual drouth. It was greatly prized by all 

 the nations of antiquity, and was one of the dainties of the 

 Greek epicures. Notwithstanding this, it has made its way 

 slowly into other countries and is just coming to be known 

 in the United States. 



The nut itself is not as large as a hazel nut, but is rather 

 longer and much thinner, and the shell is covered with a some- 

 what wrinkled skin. 



The tree upon which the nut grows is small, rarely being 

 over twenty feet high, and, as has been said is a native of 

 Syria, and probably Persia. 



