Pistacia terebinthus L.
Eng.: Terebinth, turpentine tree. Spa.: Cornicabra. Fre.: Térébinthe, pistachier térébinthe. Ara.: btem, bettum el kifane, bereicya, buthmaya, dheru, the gall: liez u illeg, afs. Tam.: tichirt, ibbjji, ijj, igg, imejji, tazezgart, aqius, aslen guiddaun.
Shrub or, more rarely, small deciduous tree, dioecious, up to 8 m in height in the western Mediterranean, whilst in the eastern Mediterranean it can reach 10-15 m in height with a trunk up to 2 m in diameter. Stems and old branches tortuous, with greyish bark, fissured, scaly. Young branches with reddish-brown, smooth bark. Leaves alternate, composed, imparipinnate, with (1)3-11(13) leaflets 2-8.5 × 1-4 cm. Leaflets opposite or subopposite, from ovate to elliptic, obtuse, mucronate, with entire margin, coriaceous, glabrous, bright green on the upper side and slightly paler on the underside. In autumn, as they dry, they turn into a carmine colour. Rachis not winged, glabrous. Inflorescence in ramose panicles, lateral, axillary, on the branches of the previous year, appearing before the leaves develop. Flowers very small and numerous, unisexual, reddish or brownish. Male flowers with 1-3 bracts and (2)4-5 sepaloid bracteoles, 5 stamens, with purple anthers. Female flowers with 1-3 bracts and 3-4(7) sepaloid bracteoles, pistil ending in 3 stigmas. Fruit an ovoid to subglobose drupe, up 9(12) mm, somewhat compressed, first greenish-yellowish, then red and finally blue, almost black if it contains a fertile seed.
Flowering:
April to June.
Fruiting:
August to October.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets and rocky areas on different types of soils. It is frequent especially in Quercus ilex and Q. faginea forests. In dry to humid bioclimate, on thermomediterranean and mesomediterranean floors. This species can tolerate cold climate better than the Mastic tree, reaching up to 2,200 m in altitude; however, it is not as well adapted to high temperatures and drought.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region. In North Africa it is much rarer than the previous species, but its distribution range is similar. It is absent from the steppic zones, either plateaux or depressions. In the Saharan Atlas it survives only in the outermost western and eastern areas. Towards the S it extends only to the High Atlas. In Cirenaica its presence is questionable (Durand & Barratte, 1910).
Observations:
The hybrid between the above 2 species (P. lentiscus × P. terebinthus) is known as P. × saportae Burnat. It presents intermediate characteristics between parental species and usually a large vegetative development due to its hybrid vigour. The most common forms have imparipinnate leaves with a small terminal leaflet and promptly caducous. Although they usually shed leaves in the winter, they often become deciduous later than the terebinth. It is a rare hybrid, most commonly found around locations where parental species coexist. In North Africa we have seen it in Morocco and Algeria.
Conservation status:
Common and widespread species. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, it is listed as Least Concern (LC) at global level.