The Pistachia Tree.
Pistachia.
A tree common in the East. The trunk is covered with a brown rough bark, the branches grow irregularly, and their bark is reddish. The leaves are each composed of several pairs of small ones; these are oblong, broad, and of a beautiful green colour, and firm texture. The flowers grow in tufts; they are white and small; the fruit which succeeds is what we call the pistachia nut; it is as big as a filbert, but long and sharp-pointed, and it is covered with a tough wrinkled bark. The shell within this is woody and tough, but it easily enough divides into two parts, and the kernel within is of a greenish colour, but covered with a red skin. It is of a sweet taste.
The fruit is eaten, but it may be considered as a medicine; it opens obstructions of the liver, and it works by urine. It is an excellent restorative to be given to people wasted by consumptions, or other long and tedious illnesses.
