Pistacia (pis-ta'se-ah)

A genus of anacardiaceous trees or shrubs; in the pi., pistaciae, p. nuts. P. lentisc us. Common mastic tree, indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean. Its sap constitutes, after hardening, the mastic of commerce. The wood was formerly used as a hemostatic and astringent, p. nuts. The edible cotyledons of the fruit of P. vera. The fruits themselves (which are also called p. nuts) are oblong drupes somewhat larger than olives, with a brittle shell containing the cotyledons. These have a greenish color and agreeable taste, and are much used as food, either dried like almonds or made into confections, etc. They contain sugar, and a fixed oil obtained from them by expre ion, and are a mild demulcent. They are not much employed medicinally and readily turn rancid. [Gr., pistakia.]