104 
PISTACHIA LENTISCUS. 
quantity of the juice, on which account it fetches a very high price. 
We are told that very large trees yield less than one pound of turpen- 
tine. In the eastern parts of the island of Cyprus the trees are said to 
afford somewhat more, though still so little as to render it very costly, 
hence it is often adulterated with common turpentine. 
Qualities, &c. The genuine Chian turpentine is generally about 
the consistence of new honey, transparent, clear, tenacious, of a 
pale yellow colour, and a fragrant smell ; its taste is moderately 
warm, but free from acrimony and bitterness. 
Medical Properties and Uses. These resemble the other 
turpentines, which have been fully considered under the article Pinus, 
to which we refer our readers. —See pp. 23—29. 
^ 
PISTACHIA LENTISCUS. 
Mastic Tree* 
For Class, Order, and Gen. Char. 
See Pistachia Terebinthus. 
Spec. Char. Leaves abruptly pinnate. Leaflets ovate, 
lanceolate. Petioles winged. 
The Pistachia LENTiscusf is a native of the south of Europe 
and the Levant; it appears to have been cultivated in Britain so early 
as 1664,1 but it is of slow vegetation, and in this country seldom 
arrives to that degree of perfection to give us a competent idea of 
the plant in its native soil. 
The stem of this tree seldom exceeds ten or twelve inches in 
diameter, and rises to the height of about twelve feet, and towards 
the top sends oflf numerous branches; both stem and brandies are 
covered with a smooth bark of a brown colour; the leaves are 
* Fig. a. a female flower, magnified, b. Female flowers, natural size.— Our drawing 
represents a male plant. The male flowers resemble those of the Pistachia Terebinthus. 
t Ex^vo^Tt Dioscoridis. 
t Hort. Kew. 
