CHAP, XXXVIII. ANACARDIACEE. PISTA CIA. 545 
CHAP. XXXVIII. 
OF THE HARDY OR HALF-HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER 
ANACARDIA‘CE. 
Identification, Lindley, in Introd. to N, S. 
Synonymes. Terebinthacez, tribe 1. Anacardiée A. Br., and tribe 2. Swmachinee Dec. 
Prod., 2. 66. 
Distinctive Characteristics. Calyx in 5, occasionally in 3—4, or 7, divi- 
sions. Petals the same in number, inserted, in most, along with the stamens, 
into a perigynous disk: in some, not any. Sexes hermaphrodite, dicecious or 
polygamous. Stamens equal in number to the petals, and alternate with them, 
or twice as many, or even more. Ovary simple, superior. Seeds solitary. 
Leaves alternate. (Lindl. Introd. to N. S.) Low deciduous or evergreen 
trees, natives of Asia and Africa. 
Genus I. 
z 9 
PISTA‘CIA L. Tue Pisracnia Tree. Lin. Syst. Dice‘cia Pentandria. 
Identification. Lin. Gen., 1108. ; Dec, Prod., 2. p. 64. ; Don’s Mill., 2. p. 61. and 65. 
Synonyme. Terebinthus Juss. 
Derivation. From the Greek word Pistakia, derived, according to some, from Psit/akion, the name of 
i and, according to others, from ,the Arabic word Foustag, the Arabian name of Pistacia 
Gen. Char. The sexes are dicecious, and the flowers without petals. In the 
male plants, the flowers are disposed in racemes that resemble catkins ; every 
flower is bracteated by a scale ; the calyx is 5-cleft ; and the stamens are 5, 
inserted into a calycine disk, or into the calyx, and have 4-cornered, almost 
sessile, anthers. In the female plants, the flowers are disposed in a raceme, 
less closely than in the male; the calyx is 3—4-cleft; the ovary is 1—3-celled; 
the stigmas are three, and thickish ; and the fruit is a dry ovate drupe, the 
nut of which is rather bony, and usually 1-celled, though sometimes it 
shows two abortive cells at the side; the cell contains a single seed, 
which is affixed to the bottom. The cotyledons of the seed are thick, 
fleshy, and oily, and bent back upon the radicle. The species are trees, 
with pinnate leaves. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 64.) 
* 1. P. ve‘ra Lin. The true Pistachia Nut Tree. 
Identification. Lin Spec., 1454. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 64. ; Don’s Mill. 2. p. 65. 
Synonymes. Pistacia officinarum Hort. Kew.; Pistachier, Fr. ; Pistacie, Ger. Pistacchio, Ita. 
Engravings. Blackw. Icon., t. 461.; N. Du Ham., 4, t. 17., and our fig. 221. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves deciduous, impari-pinnate, of 3—5 leaflets, rarely of 
1; the leaflets ovate, a little tapered at the base, indistinctly mucronate at 
the tip. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 64.) A tree, a native of Syria, growing to 
the height of 20ft. Introduced in 1770. 
Varieties. The following are considered by some authors as species : — 
¥ P. v, 2 trifolia Lin. Spec., 1454., Boce. Mus., i. t. 93., has leaves 
usually of 3 leaflets. 
¥% P. v. 3 narbonénsis Bocce. Mus., t. 11. 693,; P. reticulata Willd. and 
Don’s Miller ; has pinnate leaves, the leaflets having prominent veins. 
A plant of this variety, as a bush, in the open garden of the Horticul- 
tural Society, was, in 1834, 5 ft. high, after having been 6 years planted. 
According to the Nouveau Du Hamel, these sorts differ only in the 
size, shape, and consistency of the leaflets, and are by no means 
entitled to be considered as species. 
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