pistachio (pistashio)

[Formerly pistacho; pi p.pistacho F. pistache = Ps. pistacha, pis pistache = Pg. pistacha, pis chio-tree, πιστάκιον, in pl. πιστάκια, also βισ Pistachoes, so they be good, and not musty, joined with are an excellent nourisher. Bacon, Nat. Hist., § 50. IMG:content-0263.png:[blocks in formation] pistachio-nut (pis-ta's hiō-nut the Pistacia vera. It contains a greenish-colored kernel of a pleasant almond-like taste, which is extensively used by the Turks, Greeks, etc., as a de ert-nut or in confections, and is also exported. It yields a wholesome food-oil, which, however, soon becomes rancid. Sometimes called bladder nut. Also pistachio, pistacia - nut. See Pistacia. pistachio-tree (pis-ta's hiō-tre), n. See Pistacia. Pistacia (pis-ta's hi-ä), n. [NL. (Linnæus, 1737), Branch of Pistachio-tree ( Pistacia vera ) with fruits. IMG:content-0264.png:[blocks in formation] [NL. (Linnæus, 1737), πιστός , liquid, πίνειν , drink.] A genus of monocotyledonous floating water-plants of the order Araceæ , constituting the tribe Pistioideæ . It is characterized by the absence of perianth, and the position of the solitary or few staminate flowers on the short free apex of a spadix which is adnate below to the small white spathe, and bears at the base a single obliquely globose one-celled ovary with thick style and cup-like stigma. The only species, P. Stratiotes, is common throughout the tropics excepting Australia and the Pacific islands. It consists of a rosette of pale pea-green rounded and downy leaves. It floats unattached, its tufts of long feathery roots often not reaching the bottom, and increases by runners, often soon covering ponds and tanks, keeping the water fresh and coolt In bears the name of pistict (pis'tik), a. [ tropical duckweed, and in the West Indies of water - lettuce. An alabaster box of nard pistic was sent as a present from Cambyses to the king of Ethiopia. Jer. Taylor , Works (ed. 1835), I. 245. pistil (pis'til), n. [= F. pistil = Sp. pistilo Dan. pistil , IMG:content-0265.png:[blocks in formation] Pg. It. pistillo very various in different plants, be ing sometimes a mere knob or point at the apex of the style, a line, or double line, or of various shapes. There are usually several pistils, or at least more than one pistil, in each flower; collectively they are termed the gynæcium. See also cuts under anticous, Lemna, lily, madder, Oxa IMG:content-0266.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-0267.png:[blocks in formation] pistil lace ous (pis-ti-lā'shius), a. [ pistillate (pis'ti-lāt), a. [= F. pistillé,