![\"Grade-A-quality-Pistachios\"](\"http:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Grade-A-quality-Pistachios.jpg\")
<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n
Pistacia<\/b><\/i>\u00a0is a genus of\u00a0flowering plants<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0cashew<\/a>\u00a0family,\u00a0Anacardiaceae<\/a>. It contains 10 to 20 species that are native to\u00a0Africa<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Eurasia<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0Canary Islands<\/a>, all of\u00a0Africa<\/a>, and southern\u00a0Europe<\/a>, warm and semidesert areas across\u00a0Asia<\/a>, and\u00a0North America<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Mexico<\/a>\u00a0to warm and semidesert United States, such as\u00a0Texas<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0California<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pistacia<\/i>\u00a0plants are\u00a0shrubs<\/a>\u00a0and small\u00a0trees<\/a>\u00a0growing to 5\u201315 m tall. The\u00a0leaves<\/a>\u00a0are alternate,\u00a0pinnately<\/a>\u00a0compound, and can be either\u00a0evergreen<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0deciduous<\/a>\u00a0depending on species. All species are\u00a0dioecious<\/a>, but monoecious individuals of\u00a0Pistacia atlantica<\/a><\/i>\u00a0have been noted.\u00a0The genus is estimated to be about 80 million years old.<\/p>\n It is a\u00a0genus<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0flowering plants<\/a>\u00a0belonging to the family\u00a0Anacardiaceae<\/a>. The plants are dioecious, have male and female trees independently; a viable population should have both genders.<\/p>\n Well-known species in the genus\u00a0Pistacia<\/i>\u00a0include\u00a0P. vera<\/i><\/a>, the pistachio, grown for its edible seeds;\u00a0P. terebinthus<\/i><\/a>, from which terebinth resin, a\u00a0turpentine<\/a>, is produced;\u00a0P. lentiscus<\/i><\/a>, source of the plant resin\u00a0mastic<\/a>; and\u00a0P. chinensis<\/i><\/a>, the Chinese pistache, cultivated as an ornamental tree. The\u00a0Pistacia<\/i>\u00a0species are vicarious\u00a0Anacardiaceae<\/a>\u00a0with few species outside the Old World, and are mostly more adapted to water shortage and\u00a0alkaline<\/a>\u00a0soil.<\/p>\n Many plant species are adapted to desert or summer drought typical of Mediterranean climate, so have a high tolerance to saline soil. They grow well in water containing up to 3.0 to 4.0% of soluble salts.\u00a0They are quite resilient in their ecological requirements, and can survive in temperatures ranging from \u221210\u00a0\u00b0C in winter to 45\u00a0\u00b0C in summer. They prefer places oriented toward the sun and well-drained soil, but grow well in the bottom of ravines. Though very hardy and drought resistance,\u00a0Pistacia<\/i>\u00a0species grow slowly and only begin to bear fruit after about seven to 10 years from planting, obtaining full development only after 15 to 20 years. The fruit ripens in the Mediterranean from August; only female trees have fruit.<\/p>\n Although some species prefer moderate humidity, they do not grow well in high humidity conditions. They are susceptible to root rot, molds, and fungi, and parasites attack if they receive too much water and the soil has insufficient drainage. They require a period of drought each year for proper development. Their\u00a0leaves<\/a>\u00a0are intensely bright green and leathery, with three to 9 leaflets. The leaves are alternate, compound, and paripinnate. The flowers are unisexual, apetalous, and grouped in clusters. The flowers range from purple to green. The fruit is a\u00a0drupe<\/a>, generally unpalatable to humans, the size of a\u00a0pea<\/a>, and red to brown in color, depending on the degree of maturation. The seeds do not have\u00a0endosperm<\/a>. The seeds are eaten and dispersed by birds, for which they are a valuable resource because of the scarcity of food in some important times of year, as the time of breeding, migration, or the dry season. The commercial species of\u00a0pistachio<\/a>\u00a0has larger fruits and is edible.<\/p>\n The plants emit a bitter, resinous or medicative smell, which in some species is very intense and aromatic. Some species develop “galls” that occur in the leaves and leaflets after the bite of insects. Although marred by the presence of galls, they are very vigorous and resistant plants that survive in degraded areas where other species have been eliminated. They multiply by seeds,\u00a0stolons<\/a>, and root shoots. Various species hybridize easily between them, and hybrid plants are difficult to identify.<\/p>\n Some tree species (e.g.\u00a0Pistacia aethiopica<\/a><\/i>,\u00a0Pistacia atlantica<\/a><\/i>) can exist as small bushes and shrubs due to the extremes of their habitat, adverse conditions, or the excessive consumption by wildlife or livestock that hinders growth.<\/p>\n Pistacia lentiscus<\/a><\/i>\u00a0is a very common plant related to\u00a0Pistacia terebinthus<\/a><\/i>\u00a0with which it hybridizes.\u00a0P. terebinthus<\/i>\u00a0is more abundant in the mountains and inland in the Iberian Peninsula, and mastic is usually found more frequently in areas where the Mediterranean influence of the sea prevents or moderates frost. There are species with very small ranges that cover only one or a group of islands in the Mediterranean. On the east coast of the\u00a0Mediterranean<\/a>,\u00a0Syria<\/a>,\u00a0Lebanon<\/a>, and\u00a0Israel<\/a>,\u00a0Pistacia palaestina<\/a><\/i>\u00a0fills the same ecological niche of these species. On the west coast of the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, and the Middle East, it can be confused with\u00a0Pistacia atlantica<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n Best known as the\u00a0pistachio<\/a>,\u00a0Pistacia vera<\/i>\u00a0is a small tree native to\u00a0Iran<\/a>, grown for its edible\u00a0seeds<\/a>. The seeds of the other species were also eaten in prehistory, but are too small to have commercial value today. Records of\u00a0Pistacia<\/i>\u00a0from preclassical archaeological sites, and mentions in preclassical texts, always refer to one of these other species (often\u00a0P. terebinthus<\/i>).[citation needed<\/span><\/a><\/i>]<\/sup><\/p>\n Pistacia terebinthus<\/a><\/i>, a native of\u00a0Iran<\/a>\u00a0and the western Mediterranean countries, is tapped for\u00a0turpentine<\/a>.\u00a0P. palaestina<\/a>,<\/i>\u00a0a similar species, is common in the eastern Mediterranean countries. These trees are both known as terebinth. Because it has the ability to kill certain bacteria, terebinth resin was widely used as a preservative in ancient wine. In the Zagros Mountains of Iran, in one of the earliest examples of\u00a0winemaking<\/a>,\u00a0archaeologists<\/a>\u00a0discovered terebinth resin deposits from 5400-5000 BC in jars that also contained grape-juice residue.<\/p>\n Pistacia lentiscus<\/a><\/i>, an\u00a0evergreen<\/a>\u00a0shrub<\/a>\u00a0or small tree of the Mediterranean region, supplies a\u00a0resin<\/a>\u00a0called\u00a0mastic<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pistacia chinensis<\/a><\/i>\u00a0(Chinese pistache), the most frost-tolerant species in the genus, is grown as an ornamental tree, valued for its bright red autumn leaf colour.<\/p>\n Pistacia<\/i>\u00a0species are used as food plants by the\u00a0larvae<\/a>\u00a0(caterpillars) of some species of\u00a0Lepidoptera<\/a>\u00a0including the\u00a0emperor moth<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pistacia\u00a0is a genus of\u00a0flowering plants\u00a0in the\u00a0cashew\u00a0family,\u00a0Anacardiaceae. It contains 10 to 20 species that are native to\u00a0Africa\u00a0and\u00a0Eurasia\u00a0from the\u00a0Canary Islands, all of\u00a0Africa,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[786,787,785],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7402"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7402"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7407,"href":"https:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7402\/revisions\/7407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroxjblog.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Description<\/span><\/h2>\n
Cultivation and uses<\/span><\/h2>\n