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Anacardiaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Pistacia lentiscus

Pistacia lentiscus

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Shrub
Growth—

Pistacia lentiscus is a plant of the Mediterranean region, where it is found at elevations up to 2,000 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 18 - 24°c, but can tolerate 12 - 40°c[1]. It requires hot summers to fully ripen its wood - in areas with cooler summers the plant will be more sensitive to cold than the figures given in the next sentence. When dormant, the plant can survive occasional temperatures down to about -9°c, but young growth is more tender and can be severely damaged at -1°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 400 - 800mm, but tolerates 200 - 2,000mm[1]. Succeeds in any ordinary garden soil[2, 3], preferring a hot dry position in full sun[4]. Prefers a well-drained to dry sandy or stony alkaline soil, tolerating low fertility[5, 1]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 8, tolerating 6 - 8.5[1]. Established plants are drought tolerant[1]. The mastic tree, especially its tree-like variety 'Chia' is cultivated in southern Europe for its gum, aromatic resin, and mastic oil. Most cultivation takes place on the Greek Island of Chios and some surrounding islands[6, 7, 8, 9], Mastic is a very variable plant, a form with broad leaves yielding the best resin[7]. Plants respond well to coppicing, usually resprouting freely if cut back[1]. Any pruning that needs to be done is best carried out in the spring[5]. A dioeciousplant, both male and female forms must be grown if seed is required.

Propagation

Pre-soak the seed for 16 hours in alkalized water[10], or for 3 - 4 days in warm water[2], and sow late winter in a cold frame or greenhouse[10, 11]. Two months cold stratification may speed up germination, so it might be better to sow the seed in early winter[11]. The germination is variable and can be slow. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow on the plants for at least their first winter in a greenhouse. Plant out into their permanent positions in early summer and consider giving some protection from winter cold for their first year or two outdoors[PFAF]. Cuttings of half-ripe wood from juvenile trees, July in a frame[11]. Layering. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Pistacia+lentiscus>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  3. [3]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  4. [4]The Milder Garden. — Taylor. J. · Dent · 1990 ↩︎A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.
  5. [5]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  6. [6]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  7. [7]Vegetable Gums and Resins. — Howes. F. N. · Faber · ISBN 81-88818-17-8 ↩︎A very good book dealing with the subject in a readable way.
  8. [8]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  9. [9]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  10. [10]Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. — Sheat. W. G. · MacMillan and Co · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.
  11. [11]The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. — Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. · Athens Ga. Varsity Press · 1987 · ISBN 0942375009 ↩︎A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.
  12. [12]Taxonomic Revision of the Genus Pistacia L. (Anacardiaceae) — AL-Saghir M.G. & Porter D.M. · 2012 · http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ajps.2012.31002 ↩︎
  13. [13]Flore Forestiere se L'Algérie, Tunisie, Maroc et Midi de la France — Lapie G. & Maige A. · Gouvernement Général de l'Algérie · 1914 ↩︎
  14. [14]Flora Europaea — ? · Cambridge University Press · 1964 · ISBN - ↩︎An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for Europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.
  15. [15]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  16. [16]Plants for Man. — Schery. R. W. ↩︎Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.
  17. [17]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  18. [18]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  19. [19]Flowers of the Mediterranean. — Polunin. O. and Huxley. A. · Hogarth Press · 1987 · ISBN 0-7012-0784-1 ↩︎A very readable pocket flora that is well illustrated. Gives some information on plant uses.
  20. [20]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  21. [21]Five Pistacia species (P. vera, P. atlantica, P. terebinthus, P. khinjuk, and P. lentiscus): A Review of Their Tradi — Bozorgi M. et al · 2013 · http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/219815 ↩︎A very comprehensive review of the traditional uses and modern medicinal research into five species of Pistacia growing in Iran
  22. [22]The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants — Chevallier. A. · Dorling Kindersley. London · 1996 · ISBN 9-780751-303148 ↩︎An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
  23. [23]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  24. [24]Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. — Chiej. R. · MacDonald · 1984 · ISBN 0-356-10541-5 ↩︎Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
  25. [25]Economic Botany. — Hill. A. F. · The Maple Press · 1952 · ISBN - ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover.
  26. [26]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  27. [27]Vegetable Tannins — Rottsieper. E.H.W. · The Forestal Land, Timber and Railways Co. Ltd. · 1946 · ISBN - ↩︎A fairly detailed treatise on the major sources of vegetable tannins.
  28. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎