Pistacia Tree, Mastic Tree

Apple Trees Apricot Trees Cherry Trees Citrus & other Tender Fruits

Culinary Vegetables and Herbs Fig Trees

Grape Vines

Kiwi Fruits Nut Trees, Cobnuts
and Filberts Orchards Ornamental Trees

Peaches and Nectarine Trees Plums, Damsons and Gages Pear Trees Quince Trees, Medlars
and Mulberries Soft Fruit and Bushes

Conservatory & Greenhouse Plants

Gardening Sundries

Gift Vouchers Fruity Creations Recipies

Items:
Value:

Best Sellers

Apple Norfolk Royal Russet

Attractive fruit with a mottled red and russet effect, really good flavour. This one is my favourite of all apples.

Ripens September. Pollination group 4.
find out more

Grape Strawberry

£10.50

Red to dark-red berries, ripens best on a wall or warm spot, usually October. A good vine for growing up a Pergola, leaves very attractive and disease resistant. Grapes have a distinct 'strawberry flavour' which will carry through to the wine also.
find out more

Apple Red Falstaff.- Rootstock M106

£16.25

find out more

Fig White Marseilles

£14.50

(White Naples. Figue Blanche, etc.) Large almost round fruit, slightly ribbed. Pale green to yellow/white when mature. Translucent flesh which is sweet, one of the best garden varieties
Excellent in pots in any situation, when kept in a greenhouse you can get two crops per year.
find out more

Quince Vranja

Large Golden yellow fruit. White flowers, an old favourite, a fairly vigorous tree will grow to 12ft or so depending on soil type.
find out more

Crab Apple Pink Glow.Rootstock mm27

£16.50

find out more

Pistacia lentiscus

Pistacia lentiscus
An evergreen shrub growing to 15 ft by 9 ft . It is hardy to zone 9. It is in leaf all year, in flower from May to July, and the seeds ripen in October. The scented flowers are dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required). The plant not is self-fertile.
The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.
Woodland - Sunny Edge, By Walls, By South Wall.
Edible Uses
Condiment; Gum; Oil.
A sweet liquorice-flavoured resin, called 'mastic', is obtained from incisions made into the bark of the trunk, but not into the wood. The odour is agreeable and the taste mild and resinous, when chewed it becomes soft and so can easily be masticated. It is chewed to strengthen the gums and as a breath sweetener and also used as a flavouring in puddings, sweets (including 'Turkish delight') cakes etc. It is also the basis of a Greek confectionery called 'masticha' and a liqueur called 'mastiche'.

An edible oil is obtained from the seed.

Medicinal Uses
Analgesic; Antitussive; Carminative; Diuretic; Expectorant; Odontalgic; Sedative; Stimulant.
Mastic was at one time greatly used in herbal medicine, the resin obtained from the tree (see below for more details) being used. It is little used in modern herbalism though it could be employed as an expectorant for bronchial troubles and coughs and as a treatment for diarrhoea.

Other Uses

The resin 'mastic' is obtained by making incisions in the bark (not the trunk) of the tree from mid summer to the autumn. It can be dried and used as a powder, or distilled for oil and essence. It is used in high grade varnishes, as a fixative in perfumes, tooth pastes, glue (especially for false beards), embalming, a temporary filling for teeth etc. It is used to seal the edges of microscope mounts and is also chewed to preserve the teeth and gums.

An oil obtained from the seed is used for lighting, soap making etc.

The leaves contain up to 19% tannin.

Cultivation details
Succeeds in any ordinary garden soil, preferring a hot dry position in full sun. Prefers a well-drained to dry sandy or stony alkaline soil.

This species is not very hardy in Britain. It normally requires the protection of a south-facing wall but can succeed in a hot dry position in the milder areas of the country.

The mastic tree is cultivated in southern Europe for its resin. It is a very variable plant, a form with broad leaves yielding the best resin. It is likely to need long hot and dry summers in order to yield its resin, and so is unlikely to produce it very freely in Britain.

Any pruning that needs to be done is best carried out in the spring.

Scent
All parts of the plant are aromatic.

Price: £14.00 (Including VAT at 17.5%)

Quantity: