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Anacardiaceae FAMILY Near Threatened

Pistacia vera

Pistacia vera

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
Growth—

Pistacia vera is a plant of the temperate zone in regions with long hot summers and low humidity[1]. It is found at elevations up to 1,200 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 25 - 35°c, but can tolerate 12 - 40°c[2]. 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 temperatures down to about -18°c, but young growth is more tender and can be severely damaged at -1°c[2]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 400 - 700mm, but tolerates 250 - 1,100mm[2]. The plant requires low to medium humidity and needs a period of 1,000 hours below 7.5°c in the winter in order to break the dormancy of the buds[2]. Requires a sunny position in a deep well-drained light soil[1]. Succeeds in dry soils. Does well in light calcareous soils[1]. Grows well on poor soils and tolerates moderate soil salinity[1, 2]. Prefers a pH in the range 7 - 8, tolerating 6 - 8.5[2]. Established plants are drought tolerant[2]. Plants are prone to fungal root rots[1]. The pistachio nut is often cultivated for its edible seed in warm temperate areas, there are many named forms[3]. Plants take around 4 - 5 years before first coming into bearing, 7 - 10 years before they reach commercial production and then peak at about 20 years[2]. Individual trees can live for several hundred years, 700 years have been recorded for some specimens[2]. Any pruning that needs to be done is best carried out in the spring[4]. Dioecious, male and female plants must be grown if seed is required. One male plant for every five females is adequate[1].

Propagation

Pre-soak the seed for 16 hours in alkalized water[5], or for 3 - 4 days in warm water[6], and sow late winter in a cold frame or greenhouse[5, 7]. Two months cold stratification may speed up germination, so it might be better to sow the seed in early winter[7]. 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[7]. Layering. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Pistacia+vera>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]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.
  2. [2]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.
  3. [3]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.
  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]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.
  6. [6]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 ]).
  7. [7]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.
  8. [8]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 ↩︎
  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]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.
  11. [11]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.
  12. [12]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  14. [14]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.
  15. [15]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
  16. [16]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  17. [17]Medicinal plants in Himachal Pradesh, north western Himalaya, India — Samant S.S. et al · 2009 ↩︎Very terse information on each plant, but lists 643 species used medicinally in Himachal Pradesh
  18. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎