PISTACIA 



PISTACIA 



2649 



Spain by Flavius Pompeius. The first introduction into 

 the United States dates from an importation of nuts 

 by the Federal Patent Office in 1853-1854. These nuts 

 were widely distributed throughout the middle and 

 southern states but do not seem to have attracted much 

 attention until trees were introduced into California by 

 the writer, from southern France in 1876, and subse- 

 quently by the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture at various times up to the present. 



The best named varieties, a half-dozen in number, 

 have been imported from Syria, Sicily, and other Medi- 

 terranean countries and have been extensively prop- 

 agated at the Government stations, chiefly, at Chico, 

 California. During the past seven or eight years, 

 budded trees of the named varieties and seedlings of 

 various species to the extent of 25,000 or 30,000 have 

 been distributed to sections of the southwestern states, 

 chiefly California. The best nuts in market are from 

 the island of Sicily, where wild Terebinthus trees are 

 thinned out and grafted with P. vera cions. 



In this country, the tree is propagated by either 

 budding or grafting. In nursery rows the stocks are 

 budded when one year old. One experienced nursery- 

 man has best success by the use of dormant buds from 

 old wood inserted in April or May when the bark peels 

 freely. He sometimes takes buds in winter and keeps 

 them in cold storage until ready for use. All the species 

 mentioned above are successfully used for stocks, some, 

 however, give the preference to P. Terebinthus, P. vera, 

 P. matica, and P. ailaniica. 



The trees may be worked either in nursery or in the 

 orchard when the seedlings are well established. In 

 planting the orchard, it is best to put out trees one 

 year from the bud or one or two years from the seed, as 

 the tap-root is large and young trees are most success- 

 fully moved. 



It is suggested that one form of the commonly cul- 

 tivated pepper tree, Schinus terebinthifolius, is so closely 

 related to the pistache that it may be used as a stock 

 for P. vera. The vigor, hardiness, and rapid growth of 

 P. chincnsis seemed to indicate it as an ideal stock 

 upon which to work P. vera; but the growth of the bud 

 the first year was a disappointment, as when it began to 

 grow the stock in most cases stopped, resulting, at the 

 end of the season, in a top-heavy tree, frequently % 

 inch above and J^ inch below the union. However, the 

 second or third year, the stock overtakes the bud, so 

 that the only precaution required is to stake the tree 

 the first year or two. 



The pistache is a dry-climate tree, somewhat hardier 

 than the fig and olive. When once established in good 

 deep soil, little irrigation is required. It flourishes in 

 the southwestern states wherever the climate permits 

 the growth of the olive. The trees are planted 25 feet 

 apart, and one male to six or seven females must be put 

 out as pollinizers. The males of P. vera blossom first 

 and in some countries these flowers are gathered and 

 preserved in a dry place until the female flowers open; 

 the pollen is then dusted over them. Sometimes twigs 

 of staminate flowers are cut from the tree and pushed 

 into pots of moist earth where they will keep fresh a 

 few days until the pistillate flowers open. P. atlantica 

 male flowers open earlier than the female flowers of P. 

 vera and have served as good pollinizers for the latter. 

 In that case, of course, the seeds of such crosses, if 

 planted, would produce hybrid trees. Sometimes the 

 male cions are grafted into female trees. The male trees 

 are invariably larger and more vigorous than the 

 females. 



The grafts begin to bear the fourth year, and at the 

 age of eight to ten years, with good care, should yield 

 twenty-five to one hundred pounds of nuts in the shell, 

 of which it takes three pounds to make one of shelled 

 kernels, in which form most of them are imported. 

 There are seedling trees in California eight and nine 

 years of age which are producing annually twenty to 



twenty-five pounds of nuts. It is the highest-priced 

 nut in our markets, selling at wholesale from 35 to 75 

 cents a pound. It is a curious fact, not mentioned by 

 botanists, that the shells grow to about normal size 

 and remain empty if not pollinized. After pollination 

 the ovule rapidly expands and fills the shell. 



In central California, seeds are planted in March. 

 The seeds should be soaked over night in lye-water 

 made with a can of lye to twenty gallons of water; then 

 put into a coarse sieve and rub with a piece of burlap 

 to remove the pulp. If this is not done, the seeds will 

 be long in germinating. Plant in good soil in house or 

 hotbed. 



The pistache nut is greatly appreciated in the coun- 

 tries bordering on the Mediterranean, especially in 

 Syria, where it is extensively used, as is the almond and 

 walnut in this country. In Syria it always forms an 

 important ingredient of all wedding feasts. The part- 

 ing guest after a social call is always provided with a 

 bag of nuts. At present, in this country, owing to the 

 high price, its use is restricted to confectioners who use 

 it for coloring and flavoring. When processed as are 

 salted almonds, but in the shell, they are widely liked. 

 The dehiscent shell is penetrated by the salt-water, 

 while the crack facilitates the opening by the fingernails 

 It is not presumed that growing the nuts will become 

 an important industry; still, as the tree is a good bearer 

 and thrives in hot arid regions where the filbert and 

 walnut cannot be grown, it will probably have a place 

 in nut-production not now occupied by other species 

 It is not segregated by the customs authorities from 

 other nuts, but dealers estimate the annual importations 

 into the United States at a value of $250,000. 



The cultivated species of Pistacia. 



Terebinthus, Linn. A small tree: Ivs. deciduous; 

 Ifts. &-13, mucronate; the petiole slightly winged: fls. 

 small, in axillary panicles; stamens purplish; stigmas 

 red: fr. small, orbicular, slightly flattened, dark purple, 

 and wrinkled. Medit. region. It produces a trans- 

 parent gum from incisions, and in hot countries it 

 exhales a penetrating resinous odor in the evening. 



atlintica, Desf. Tree up to 60 ft. in height and 12 ft. 

 circumference: Ivs. deciduous, odd-pinnate; Ifts. 7-11, 

 alternate, lanceolate, obtuse, glabrous and sessile; petiole 

 narrow-winged: pistillate fls. in loose, axillary racemes; 

 staminate fls. axillary and more compact. Sahara 

 region. It exudes a gum similar to that of P. Lentiscus 

 and P. Terebinthus. Its heart wood is brown, resemb- 

 ling walnut. Preferred by some as stock for P. vera. 



chinensis, Bunge. CHINESE PISTACHIO. Tree, 50-^0 

 ft. high: Ivs. deciduous, odd-pinnate; Ifts. 5-6 pairs, 

 short-petiolate, lanceolate: infl. compositely branched 

 panicles: fr. an obovoid-rotundate drupe, compressed 

 and about J^in. long and broad, scarlet turning pur- 

 plish. China. Used as stock for P. vera and also said 

 to be a good shade tree in Fla. and useful for ornamental 

 planting, being rapid-growing and the foliage coloring 

 finely in the late fall. 



integemma, Stew. Medium-sized tree: Ivs. aromatic, 

 even- or uneven-pinnate, finely pubescent when young; 

 Ifts. 4-5 pairs, usually opposite, lanceolate from an 

 oblique base; the petiole very short: drupe broader 

 than long, J^in. diam. March-May. Himalayas. 

 Yields the zebra wood of India. It is said that the 

 seeds must pass through the intestines of a fowl before 

 they will germinate; tree also said to have promise as 

 an ornamental and perhaps even as a timber tree in 

 some parts of the S. W. Little known in cult. 



Lentiscus, Linn. Small evergreen tree, often shrubby, 

 up to 12-15 ft.: Ivs. even-pinnate with winged petioles; 

 Ifts. 3-5 pairs, coriaceous, glossy green above, light 

 green below, ovate, obtuse: drupe about 1 in. diam., 

 orbicular, slightly apiculate, reddish finally black at 

 maturity, ^fedit. region. In Algeria, it forms dense 



