340 



PI S 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



PIS 



Pistacia ; a genus of the class Dioecia, order Pentandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male. Calix ; ament loose, 

 scattered, composed of small one-flowered scalelets; perianth 

 proper, five-cleft, very small. Corolla: none. Stamina: fila- 

 menta five, very small ; antherse ovate, four-cornered, erect, 

 patulous, large. Female on a separate plant. Calix: ament 

 none ; perianth trifid, very small. Corolla : none. Pistil : 

 germen ovate, larger than the calix ; styles three, reflex ; 

 Stigmas thickish, hispid. Pericarp : drupe dry, ovate. Seed: 

 nut ovate, smooth. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male: an 

 ament. Calix: five-cleft. Corolla: none. Female: dis- 

 tinct. Calix: trifid. Corolla : none. Styles : two. Drupe: 

 one-seeded. The species are, 



1. Pistacia. Officinarum ; Pistachio, Tree, or Pistachia-nut 

 Tree. Leaves simply ternate and pinnate; leaflets oval. 

 In the Levant it grows to the height of twenty-five or thirty 

 feet: the bark of the stem and old branches is of a dark rus- 

 set colour, but that of the young branches is of a light brown. 

 The male puts forth its flowers first; and some gardeners 

 pluck them whilst yet shut, dry them, and afterwards sprinkle 

 the pollen over the female tree : but the method usually fol- 

 lowed in Sicily, when the trees are far asunder, is to wait till 

 the female buds are open, and then to gather bunches of 

 male blossoms ready to blow ; these are stuck into a pot of 

 moist mould, and hung upon the female tree, till they are 

 quite dry and empty. Native of Persia, Arabia, Syria, and 

 India. -It is propagated by the nuts, which are obtained 

 from abroad, and planted in the spring, in pots filled with 

 light kitchen-garden earth, and plunged into a moderate 

 kot-bed : when the plants appear, admit a large share of air 

 to them, to prevent their drawing up weak; and by degrees 

 harden them to bear the open air, to which expose them 

 from the beginning of June till autumn, when they should 

 be placed under a hot-bed frame to screen them from the 

 frost in winter; for while they are young they are too tender 

 to live through the winter in England without protection, 

 but they should always be exposed to the air in mild wea- 

 ther. These plants shed their leaves in autumn, and there- 

 fore should not have much wet in winter ; and in the spring, 

 before the plants begin to shoot, they must be transplanted 

 each into a separate small pot; and if they be plunged into 

 a very moderate hot-bed, it will forward their putting out 

 new roots ; but as soon as they begin t<.< shoot they must 

 be gradually hardened, and placed abroad again : they 

 may be kept in pots three or four years till they have got 

 strength, during which time they should be sheltered in win- 

 ter ; and afterwards they may be turned out of the pots, and 

 planted in the full ground, some against high walls to a warm 

 aspect, and others in a sheltered situation, where they will 

 bear the cold of our ordinary winters very well, but in severe 

 frosts they are often destroyed. The trees flower and pro- 

 duce fruit in England, but our summers are not. sufficiently 

 warm to ripen the nuts. 



2. Pistacia Narbonensis. Leaves pinnate and ternate, sub- 

 orbiculate. Native of Mesopotamia and Armenia. 



3. Pistacia Vera. Leaves unequally pinnate; leaflets sub- 

 ovate, recurved. This, as well as the second species, is pro- 

 bably a mere variety of the first, and of course a native of 

 the same countries. 



4. Pistacia Terebinthus; Common Turpentine Tree. Leaves 

 unequally pinnate ; leaflets ovate, lanceolate. It is a low 

 thick shrub, the trunk and branches rugged, and bent in all 

 directions. The flowers form branching catkins at the 

 JWJJs of the leaves, and are reddish ; the wood is odorous and 

 balsamic. The Cyprus or Chian turpentine, which this tree 

 furnishes, is procured by wounding the bark of the trunk in 



several places, during the month of July, leaving a space of 

 about three inches between the wounds ; from these the tur- 

 pentine is received on stones, upon which it becomes so much 

 condensed by the coldness of the night, as to admit of being 

 scraped off with a knife, which is always done before sun-rise. 

 In order to free it from all extraneous admixture, it is again 

 liquefied by the sun's heat, and passed through a strainer, 

 after which it is fit- for use. The quantity produced is very 

 inconsiderable; four large trees, sixty years old, only yielding 

 two pounds nine ounces and six drachms: but in the eastern 

 parts of Cyprus and Chio the trees afford somewhat more, 

 though still so little as to render it very costly ; and on this 

 account it is commonly adulterated, especially with other 

 turpentines. The best Chio turpentine is generally about the 

 consistence of thick honey, very tenacious, clear, and almost 

 transparent, white inclining to yellow, and of a fragrant smell, 

 moderately warm to the taste, but free from acrimony and 

 bitterness. For the medicinal qualities of turpentine, see 

 Pinus Larix. This tree is as hardy as the first species, and 

 may be treated in the same manner : it has often survived 

 very severe winters. 



5. Pistacia Atlantica. Leaves deciduous, unequally pin- 

 nate; leaflets lanceolate, somewhat waved, petioled, winged. 

 This is a large tree, with a thick, wide, roundish head. From 

 the bark of the trunk and branches, at different seasons of 

 the year, but especially in summer, there flows a resinous 

 juice which hardens in the air, and is of a pale yellow colour, 

 an aromatic smell, and a taste that is not unpleasant. This 

 is scarcely to be distinguished from the Oriental Mastich,and 

 is known by the same name among the Moors. It is inspis- 

 sated into lamellae round the branehlets, 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 scattered on the ground. The Arabs 

 cotlect this substance in autumn and winter, and make the 

 same use of it as of the Mastich from Scio, chewing it to give 

 a pleasant smell to the mouth, and brightness to the teeth. 

 At the foot of Mount Atlas, this is the largest tree 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 cli- 

 mate being cooler, and the soil more moist and fertile. The 

 leaves have frequently round red galls on them, resembling 

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

 their dates. Native of Barbary, at the foot of mountains. 



6. Pistacia Lentiscus ; Mastich Tree. Leaves abruptly 

 pinnate; leaflets lanceolate. It rises to the height of eighteen 

 or twenty feet, the trunk being covered with a grey bark, send- 

 ing out many branches, which have a reddish brown bark. 

 The male flowers come out in loose clusters from the sides 

 of the branches, are of an herbaceous colour, appear in May, 

 and soon fall : they are generally on different plants from 

 the fruits, which also grow in clusters, and are small berries 

 of a black colour when ripe. It is a native of the south of 

 Europe and the Levant. Desfontaines informs us that it is 

 very common in Barbary, both wild on the hills and cult>> 

 vated in gardens ; but that it is little, if at all, resinous, 

 though the branches and trunk were wounded at different 

 seasons of the year ; that the wood, however, yields an aro- 

 matic smell in burning ; and that the berries yield an oil fit 

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

 officinal Mastich is obtained most abundantly by making trans- 

 verse incisions into the bark of the tree, whence the mastich 

 exudes in drops, which are suffered to run down to the 

 ground, and after they are concreted they are collected for 

 use. The. incisions are made at, the beginning of August; 



