280 Fruits and Fruit-Trees. 



is an ovoid drupe, about an inch in length, concave upon 

 one side, of a rather deep red, the pulp of the same 

 colour, the stone brown and rugged. The kernel is large, 

 fat, oleaginous, and yellowish green, the peculiar colour 

 giving to this nut the secondary commercial name of 

 "green almond." The flavour is sweetish, and greatly 

 improved by partial drying of the nuts. 



In England we see but little of the pistachio, the 

 import, chiefly from Sicily and Aleppo, being on behalf 

 of the Greeks and Turks who reside in our country, and 

 who employ pistachios in their cookery. In southern, and 

 more particularly in south-eastern Europe, the consump- 

 tion is immense : in Constantinople the ground of the 

 numberless open-air cafes and public gardens is literally 

 strewed with the broken shells. The native countries 

 extend from Syria to Afghanistan and Bokhara. The 

 name is in origin either Arabic or Persian. 



The pistachio-tree was introduced into this country in 

 1770. Being tender it is scarce, even in the south, and 

 though it blossoms it never sets fruit. In the autumn the 

 green of the leaves changes to a dark purplish red. 



THE KARAKA-NUT ( Corynocarpus lavigatus). 



BOTH the cashew and the pistachio belong to the order 

 Anacardiaceae. Another tree of this family, indigenous 

 to New Zealand, produces the rather celebrated Karaka- 

 nut, a fruit of no importance as regards our own country, 



