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Anacardiaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Pistacia terebinthus

Pistacia terebinthus

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
GrowthSlow

Pistacia terebinthus is somewhat cold-hardy and can tolerate short-lived frosts with temperatures down to around -5 to -8°c when it is fully dormant. It does require hot summers if it is to fully ripen its wood - when growing in areas with cool summers it is likely to be much more sensitive to cold damage[1, 2]. Requires a deep well-drained light soil[2], preferring a hot dry position in full sun[3]. It grows best in a sandy to stony alkaline soil[4]. Established plants are drought tolerant[5]. A slow-growing plant[2]. Any pruning that needs to be done is best carried out in the spring[4]. The leaves have a pleasant resinous odour[1]. Most forms are dioecious, in which case both male and female forms must be grown if seed is required. Some plants have been discovered in Bulgaria that are monoecious[5].

Propagation

Pre-soak the seed for 16 hours in alkalized water[6], or for 3 - 4 days in warm water[7], and sow late winter in a cold frame or greenhouse[6, 8]. Two months cold stratification may speed up germination, so it might be better to sow the seed in early winter[8]. 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[8]. Layering. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Pistacia+terebinthus>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]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.
  2. [2]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.
  3. [3]The Milder Garden. — Taylor. J. · Dent · 1990 ↩︎A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.
  4. [4]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.
  5. [5]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.
  6. [6]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.
  7. [7]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 ]).
  8. [8]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.
  9. [9]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 ↩︎
  10. [10]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.
  11. [11]Flowers of Greece and the Balkans. — Polunin. O. · Oxford University Press · 1980 · ISBN 0-19-217626-9 ↩︎A good pocket flora, it also lists quite a few plant uses.
  12. [12]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.
  13. [13]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  14. [14]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.
  15. [15]Edible Nuts. — Wickens G.E. · FAO, Rome. · 1995 · http://www.fao.org/docrep/ · ISBN 92-5-103748-5 ↩︎Detailed information on 20 of the most valuable nut crops, plus more basic information on a wide range of other nut-producing plants. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  16. [16]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.
  17. [17]The Book of Edible Nuts. — Rosengarten. jnr. F. · Walker & Co. · 1984 · ISBN 0802707699 ↩︎A very readable and comprehensive guide. Well illustrated.
  18. [18]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
  19. [19]Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. — Polunin. O. · Oxford University Press · 1969 · ISBN 0192176218 ↩︎An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.
  20. [20]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.
  21. [21]Flore Forestiere se L'Algérie, Tunisie, Maroc et Midi de la France — Lapie G. & Maige A. · Gouvernement Général de l'Algérie · 1914 ↩︎
  22. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎