P I s 



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Culture. — It is increased by seeds, which 

 should be sown in pots filled with Ught rich 

 earth, and plunged into a hot-bed of tanner's 

 bark; and when the plants come up, thev 

 should be transphnitcil into separate pots, and 

 plunged into the hot-bed again, where they may 

 remain till autumn, when they should be re- 

 moved into the stove, and plunged into the bark- 

 bed, and treated in the same manner as has been 

 directed for several tender plants of the same 

 country ; in hot weather giving them plenty 

 of water, but in winter more sparingly. 



They are too tender to thrive in the open air 

 of this country at any season of the year, they 

 should therefore be constantly kept in the stove. 

 They retain their leaves most part of the year in 

 this climate. 



They afford variety in stove collections of 

 exotic plants. 



PISTACHIA NUT. See Pistacia. 



PISTACIA, a genus containing plants of the 

 exotic deciduous tree and shrubby evergreen kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Dioecia 

 fentandna, and ranks in the natural order of 

 AmentacecE. 



The characters are : that in the male — the 

 calyx is a loose ament, scattered, compressed, of 

 small one-flowered scalelets : perianthium pro- 

 per, five-cleft, very small : there is no corolla : 

 the stamina have five filaments, very small : 

 anthers ovate, four-cornered^ erect, patulous, 

 large : female — the calyx ament none : perian- 

 thium trifid, very small : there is no corolla : 

 the pistillum is an ovate germ, larger than the 

 calyx ; styles three, reflex : stigmas thickish, 

 hispid : the pericarpium is a drupe dry, ovate : 

 the seed is a nut ovate, smooth. 



The species are: I. P. vera, True Pistacia 

 Tree; 2. P. re?f/u//</»/5, Common Turpentine 

 Tree ; 3. P. Lenthcus, Mastick Tree. 



The first grows to the height of twenty-five 

 or thirty feet ; in its native situation the bark 

 of the stem and old branches is of a dark russet 

 colour, but that of the young branches is of a 

 light brown : the leaves are composed of two or 

 three pairs of leaflets terminated by an odd one ; 

 they approach towards an ovate shape, and their 

 edges turn back; They cinit an odour like that 

 of the nut, when they arc bruised. Some of 

 the trees produce male flowers, others female ; 

 and some, when they are old, have both on the 

 same tree. The male flowers come out from 

 the side of the branches in loose bunches, and 

 are of an herbaceous colour: the female flowers 

 come out in the same manner iir clusters. It is 

 a native of Persia. 



In the second species the situation of the 

 buds is similar to that in the preceding species : 



the leaflets seven, the middle ones for the mn<f^ 

 part larger, or the odd leaflet and the two inmost 

 smaller than the four others; each ovate-oblong, 

 by no means acuminate but styled, most of 

 them also are wider on one side. It is by some 

 described as a low shrub, but very thick : the 

 wood is odorous and balsamic : the leaves have 

 two pairs of leaflets, terminated bv an odd one 

 which is larger: they are firm, and shining on the 

 upper surface: the flowers from branching cat- 

 kins at the axils of the leaves, and are reddish. 

 It is a native of Barbary and the South of Eu- 

 rope, flowering here iir June and July. 



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 

 Turpentine 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 t 

 in order to free it from all extraneous admixture,, 

 it is again liquefied by the sun's heat, and passed 

 through a strainer; it is then fit for use. 



The third rises to the height of eighteen or 

 twenty feet, the trunk being covered with a gray 

 bark. It sends out many branches, which have 

 a reddish brown bark : the leaves have three or 

 four pairs of small leaflets, of a lucid green oi\ 

 their upper, but pale on their under side : the 

 midrib has two narrow borders or wings running 

 from one leaflet to another : 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 ofl"; they are generally on 

 diflerent 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. 



There is a variety which rises to the same 

 height as the preceding ; but differs from it in 

 bavmg a pairor two of leaflets more to each leaf, 

 much narrower and of a paler colour. It is a 

 native of the country about Marseilles, &c. 



Culture. — The firs t is capable of being increased 

 by the seeds or nuts, procured from abroad and 

 planted in the spring, in pots filled with lioht 

 kitchen-garden earth, plunging them into amo- 

 derate hot-bed : when the plants appear, a lar^e 

 share of air should be admitted to them, to pre- 

 vent their drawing up weak ; and by decrees 

 they should be hardened to bear the open air, to 

 which they may be exposed from the i:errinning 

 of June till autumn, when they should be'placed 

 under a hot-bed frame to screen them I'rum the 

 frost in winter ; as while young, they arc too 

 tender to live through the winter in this climate 



