PISUM 



ARVENSIS 



Grey Pea 



Mastic 

 Tree. 



Kesin. 



Galls. 



Leaves as a 

 Dye. 



Terebinth 

 Tree. 



Chian 

 Turpentine. 



Pistachio 

 Nut. 



Resin. 



Fruit, Nut. 



D.E.P., 



vi., pt. i., 

 276-81. 



Field Pea. 



Fodder. 



THE PISTACHIO NUT 



transl.), 1893-7, 119, 124; Sule, Monog. Dyes and Dyeing, Berar, 1895-6, 5; 

 Agri. Ledg., 1902, No. 1, 21 ; Tschirch, Die Harze und die Harzbehalter, 1906, 

 i., 474-5.] 



P. Lentiscus, Linn. The Mastic Tree or Mastiche ; resin = rumi mastiki, 

 kundur-rumi, arah, etc. An evergreen shrub of the Mediterranean region, which 

 yields the mastic of Chios, imported into India. 



The resin (mastic) occurs in small, irregular yellowish tears, brittle and of a 

 vitreous fracture, but soft and ductile when chewed. It has been known in 

 medicine and the arts from the earliest periods. It is used as a masticatory by 

 people of high rank in India to preserve the teeth and sweeten the breath, and also 

 in the preparation of a perfume. [Cf. Milburn, Or. Comm., 1813, i., 139 ; Moodeen 

 Sheriff, Mat. Med. Mad., 1891, 114-6; Holmes, Cat. Hanb. Herb. Pharmaceut. 

 Soc. Mus. Kept., 1892, 29 ; Kew Bull, 1897, 421-2 ; 1898, 190-1 ; 1903, 19-22 ; 

 2nd. For., 1898, xxiv., 480-1 ; Tschirch, I.e. 468-74.] 



P. mutica, Fisch. & Mey. ; Lace and Hemsley, in Ind. For., 1891, xvii., 449-50 ; 

 Prain, Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind., i., 130 ; P. Terebinthua, Linn., var. mutica, Aitch. & 

 Hemsley, Trans. Linn. Soc., iii., ser. 2, 47. The gwan, khanjak; resin = mastiki, 

 kunzad, wanjad, shilm, etc. In the Dictionary this species is treated as the Asian 

 representative of P. Terebinthtts, the plant which yields the Chian or Cyprus 

 turpentine, but it is now regarded as a distinct species. It occurs commonly in 

 Baluchistan. The resin resembles that of P. Letitisctis and is used in the East as 

 a substitute for that substance. It bears the same vernacular names, and is con- 

 sidered almost identical with that of P. vera. The leaves are very generally 

 affected by a horse-shoe shaped gall, which extends round the margin and gets 

 the name of gosh-wdra (ear-lobe) from its peculiar shape. According to 

 Aitchison the Natives regard the galls as of no use, but value highly the leaves 

 for dyeing and tanning purposes. 



P. Terebinthus, Linn. The Terebinth Tree. A tree or shrub, common on the 

 islands and shores of the Mediterranean. It yields a resin (Chian Turpentine), 

 the terebinth of the ancients, produced chiefly in the island of Scio, where it is 

 collected from incisions made in the stem and branches. [Cf. Holmes, I.e. 29 ; 

 Tschirch, I.e. i. 482-3 ; Kew Bull., 1903, 19-20; Kew Mus. Guide, 1907, No. 1 54., 



P. vera, Linn. The Pistachio Nut ; tree and nut = pista ; galls = bdz ,' . * 

 gum-resin = kunjad, wanjad, kandur, shilm, etc. A small tree, form -gnanj ; 

 at 3,000 feet and upwards, in Syria, Damascus, Mesopotamia, Terek, Orfa, the 

 Badghis and Khorasan ; extensively cultivated in Syria, Palestine and Persia. 



It yields a resin similar to mastic. The leaves are frequently affected by galls, 

 irregularly spheroid in shape, borne on a short stalk and usually growing from 

 the surface of the leaf. These, with the pericarp of the fruit and the unfertilised 

 ovaries, are used locally for dyeing silk, and are exported to Persia, Turkestan 

 and India. The fruit, known as the pistachio nut, is oval-shaped and varies 

 in size with the amount of cultivation the tree has received. They are exported 

 in large quantities from Afghanistan to India, Persia and Turkestan. In India 

 the nut is a common article of food among the well-to-do classes, being fried with 

 a little butter and salt and brought to the table hot. The nut is also a frequent 

 ingredient of confectionery and ice-cream. It contains about 60 per cent, of 

 a fatty oil which is occasionally extracted for use in medicine. [Cf. Aitchison, 

 Notes on Prod, of W. Afghanistan and N.E. Persia, 1890, 156-9 ; Pharmacog. 

 Ind., i., 379-81 ; Holmes, I.e. 30 ; Agri. Ledg., 1902, No. 1, 21 ; Firminger, 

 Man. Oard. Ind. (ed. Cameron), 1904, 262.] 



PISUM, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind., ii., 181 ; Prain, Beng. Plants, i., 368-9 ; 

 Duthie, Fl Upper Gang. Plain, 1903, i., 261-2 ; Cooke, Fl Pres. Bomb., 

 1903, i., 409 ; LEGUMINOS^E. This genus comprises the grey or field pea 

 and the common garden pea, both largely cultivated throughout India. 



P. arvense, Linn. ; Duthie and Fuller, Field and Garden Crops, ii., 17-8, 

 t. xxxii. B. The Grey or Field Pea, mattar, mattar rewari, kulon, keiao, korani, 

 kuldwan, karain, ghdle, etc. According to De Candolle, this pea is wild in Italy. 

 It is extensively cultivated in many parts of India, during the cold weather, in 

 the same way as P. HUH rum. under which details of the method will be given. 

 It produces a small, round, compressed, greenish and marbled seed, generally 

 eaten as ddl by the natives. It must be carefully distinguished from khesdri ddl 

 (i>/ f A ;/rif sativtis, p. 703), which it somewhat resembles. The straw is a valued 

 FODDER. 



902 



