Pistacia vera, 
THE TRUE PISTACHIO NUT-TREE. 
Synonymes. 
Pistacia vera, 
Pistacia officinarum, 
Pistachier, 
Pistazienbaum, 
Pistacchio, Pistacchio verde, 
Alfocigo, Alhocigo, 
Alfostigo, 
Pistacia, Pistachio Nut-tree, 
' Linn-eus, Species Plantarum. 
De Candolle, Prodromus. 
Michaux, North American Sylva. 
Don, Miller's Dictionary. 
k Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
Aiton, Hortus Kewensis. 
France. 
Germany. 
Italy. 
Spain. 
Portugal. 
Britain and Anglo- America. 
Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 103; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, ii., figure 221 ; and the figures 
below. 
Specific Characters. 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. De Candolle, ProdrorriMS. 
Description. 
SHE True Pistachio, in 
favourable situations, 
attains a height of 
<m fifteen or twenty feet, 
and often, when a mere shrub, produces fruit 
in five or six years after planting. The trunk 
is clothed with a grayish bark. The branches 
are spreading, but not very numerous, and are 
garnished with winged, alternate leaves, on 
long petioles. The inflorescence takes place 
in April and May. The male flowers, which 
appear first, shoot out from the side of the 
branches in loose panicles, and are of an herba- 
ceous colour. The female flowers put forth in 
clusters, in the same manner. The fruit is oval, 
and about the size of an olive. It is furrowed, 
of a reddish colour, and contains an oily kernel, 
mild and agreeable to the taste. 
Varieties. According to some authors, the 
following races are regarded as species ; but Du Hamel says that they are by no 
means entitled to be so considered. They differ only in the size, shape, and 
consistency of their leaflets. 
1. P. v. trifolia, Loudon. Three-leafleted-leaved Pistachio-tree. 
2. P. v. narbonensis, Loudon. Narbonne Pistachio-tree. This variety has 
pinnate leaves, with leaflets having prominent veins. 
Geography and History. The Pistacia vera is a native of Syria, Barbary, 
Persia, and Arabia. It was brought from Syria to Italy by the Emperor Vitel- 
lius, in the lid century, and afterwards found its way into the south of France, 
where it is so far naturalized, as to appear in some places as indigenous. It was 
