66 



TEREBINTH ACE^. VIII. PISTAUA. 



figure. Native of the Levant, and is said to be cultivated in the 

 garden of Nemaus. 



Turpentine Pistacia or Venetian or Chian Turpentine-tree. 

 Fl. June, July. Clt. 10.56. Tree 30 feet. 



4 P. ATLA NTICA (Desf. all. 2. p. 364.) leaflets usually 9, lan- 

 ceolate, tapering to the base ; petiole between the terminal pair 

 a little winged. F; . H. Native of Barbary, very common in 

 sandy uncultivated fields near Coffa, where many being in 

 rows it is plain that this tree was cultivated at the foot of the 

 mountains near Mayane and Tlemsen, &c. This is a large tree, 

 with a thick roundish head. Leaflets 7 to 9. Male flowers 

 disposed in terminal thyrse-like racemes. Stamens 5, but some- 

 times 7- Anthers deep red. Pollen yellow. Female flowers 

 disposed in loose panicled racemes. Style purple. Drupe rather 

 fleshy, about the size of a pea when ripe, blueish, containing a 

 roundish nut. From the bark of the trunk and branches 

 flows at different seasons of the year, but especially in summer, 

 a resinous juice, hardening in the air, of a pale-yellow colour, of 

 an aromatic smell, and taste that is not unpleasant, scarcely to be 

 distinguished from oriental mastick, and known by the same 

 name of Heulc among the Moors. It is inspissated into lamellae 

 round the branchlets, or into irregular globules, differing in 

 thickness and shape, frequently as big as the end of the finger 

 or thumb, some of which drop from the tree, and are found scat- 

 tered on the ground. The Arabs collect this substance in 

 autumn and winter, and make the same use of it as of the mas- 

 tick from Cliio, chewing it to give a pleasant smell to the mouth 

 and brightness to the teeth. At the foot of Mount Atlas this 

 tree is larger than any other which grows there, but the resinous 

 juice is softer, and of a much less pleasant smell and taste than 

 that which flows from the trees of the desert, which is probably 

 occasioned by the climate being cooler, and the soil more moist 

 and fertile. The leaves have often red galls on them resem- 

 bling berries. The Moors eat the drupes, and bruise them to 

 mix with their dates. 



Var. ft, latifblia (D. C. prod. 2. p. 64.) leaflets rounded and 

 broader at the base than in those of the species. Tj . F. Native 

 of the island of Chio, and is said to be the same as that which 

 grows about Constantinople. 



Atlas Mastick or Turpentine-tree. Clt. 1790. Tree 40 feet. 



5 P. MEXICA'NA (H. B. et K until, nov. gen. amer. 7. p. 22. 

 t. 608.) leaflets 16-20, alternate and opposite, oblong, unequal- 

 sided, acute at both ends, mucronate, membranous, smoothish, 

 pubescent on the middle nerve beneath, as well as on the inside 

 of the rachis ; fruit turgid, lenticular. Jj . G. Native of Mexico, 

 near Chilpancingo. 



Mexican Turpentine-tree. Tree 30 feet. 



6 P. FAGAROIDES (Willd. enum. suppl. 66.) leaflets ovate, 

 blunt ; petioles winged. T? . G. Native of? Fruit unknown. 



Fagara-like Pistachia-tree. Shrub 10 feet. 



7 P. OLEOSA (Lour. fl. coch. 615.) leaves impavi or abruptly 

 pinnate ; leaflets 4-7, ovate-lanceolate ; young fruit echinated. 



fj . G. Native of Cochin-china, as well as the Moluccas. 

 Cussambium, Rumph. amb. 1. t. 57. The nuts of fruit contain 

 a yellow, bitterish, sweet-scented, thin oil, which thickens on 

 exposure to the air. It is used to anoint the heads of the 

 natives, and also to scent ointments. 

 Oily Turpentine-tree. Tree 20 feet. 



2. Lentiscus (from lentesco, to be clammy ; it is from the 

 P. Lentiscus that mastick is obtained, which comes from the 

 word mastico, to chew ; because it is thus used in Chio, and by 

 the Turkish women to sweeten their breath). Tonrn, inst. p. 380. 

 Leaves permanent, abruptly pinnate. 



8 P. LENTI'SCUS (Lin. spec. 1455.) leaflets 8, lanceolate; 

 petiole winged, fj . H. Native of the south of Europe and 



north of Africa, both wild and cultivated in gardens. Woodv. 

 med. bot. t. 152. Blackw. t. 19.5. Dull. arb. ed. nov. 4. t. 18. 

 Leaves with 3 or 4 pairs of small leaflets. Both male and 

 female flowers come out in loose racemes from the sides of the 

 branches ; they are of a green colour. The fruit when ripe is 

 brownish. Fabricius remarks, that the male plant in time pro- 

 duces hermaphrodite flowers, with 3 stamens and 5 styles. It 

 has been observed by Gouan that the buds are different from 

 those of the other sorts, the branch-bearing buds being termi- 

 nating, the flowering buds in both sexes axillary and in pairs ; 

 hence the aments are also in pairs. The leaves have sometimes 

 5 leaflets on each side. The petioles are so much winged that 

 the leaves may be called articulately-pinnate ; they are usually 

 terminated by a thread instead of a leaflet. Desfontains informs 

 us that the Lentiscus or Mastick-tree in Barbary is little if at 

 all resinous, though the branches and bark of the trunk were 

 wounded at different seasons ; that the wood, however, yields an 

 aromatic smell on burning ; and that the berries yield an oil fit 

 both for the lamp and the table. In the island of Chio the officinal 

 mastick is obtained most abundantly by making transverse inci- 

 sions in the bark of the tree, whence the mastick exudes in drops, 

 which is suffered to run down to the ground, and after they are 

 concreted, they are collected for use. These incisions are made 

 at the beginning of August, when the weather is very dry, and 

 are continued to the end of September. Mastick is a resinous 

 substance, brought to us in small, yellowish, transparent, brittle 

 grains or tears ; it has a light agreeable smell, especially when 

 rubbed or heated ; on being chewed it first crumbles, soon after 

 sticks together, and becomes soft and white like wax, without 

 impressing any considerable taste. It totally dissolves, except 

 the earthy impurities, which are commonly in no great quantity, 

 in rectified spirit of wine, and then discovers a greater degree 

 of warmth and bitterness, and has a stronger smell than the resin 

 in substance. Boiled in water, it impregnates the liquor with 

 its smell, but gives out little or nothing of its substance ; distilled 

 with water, it yields a small quantity of limpid essential oil, in 

 smell very fragrant, in taste moderately pungent. Rectified 

 spirit brings over also in distillation the more volatile odorous 

 matter of the mastick. It is a common practice with the Turkish 

 women to chew this resin, especially in the morning, not only to 

 render their breath more agreeable, but to whiten the teeth, and 

 strengthen the gums ; they also mix it with their fragrant waters, 

 and burn it with other odoriferous substances in the way of 

 fumigation. It is used in Europe by japanners in some of their 

 varnishes. As a medicine, mastick is considered to be a mild 

 corroborant and astringent ; and as possessing a balsamic power 

 it has been recommended in haemoptysis proceeding from ulcera- 

 tion, fluor albus, debility of the stomach, and in diarrhoeas and 

 internal ulcers. Chewing this drug has likewise been said to be 

 of use in pains of the teeth and gums, and in some catarrhal com- 

 plaints ; it is now, however, seldom used either externally or 

 internally. The wood is received into the Materia Medica in 

 some foreign Pharmacopoeias, and is highly extolled in dyspeptic, 

 gouty, hsemorrhagic, and dysenteric affections ; but its chief 

 fame at present is in Portugal, where it serves for toothpicks. 

 These are rather neater than if made of common deal. 



Var. ft, angustifblia (D. C. prod. 2. p. 65.) leaflets almost 

 linear. t? . H. P. Massiliensis, Mill. diet. P. angustifolia 

 Massiliensis, Tourn. 580. This shrub scarcely ever exceeds 

 1 feet in height. 



Var. y, Chla (Duham. ed. nov. 4. p. 72.) leaflets ovate. Jj . 

 F. Native of the island of Chio. P. Chia, Desf. cat. hort. par. 

 This is the tree from which they procure the resin called mas- 

 tick. It is probably a distinct species from the true Lentiscus, 

 which yields little or no resin. See the preceding account. 



Mastick-tree. Fl. April, May. Clt. 1664. Tree 20 feet. 



