Pistacia atlantica aka Atlantic Mastic Tree

Pistacia atlantica is a tree in the cashew family. The family name is Anacardiaceae. People call it betoum or Bombay mastic. Other names are Mount Atlas mastic and Mount Atlas turpentine. Kew places it in a subtropical climate range. The RHS accepts its scientific name as correct. The tree is not native to Britain or Ireland.

Its native range runs from the Canary Islands to western Himalayan lands. It spans the south and east of the Mediterranean. It also grows in the Arabian Peninsula. Plants For A Future lists Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. It includes Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in the range. It names these lands in the eastern Mediterranean: Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. The same source lists Greece and Crimea as well. To the east, it names Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. It also lists India’s Himachal Pradesh. Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia appear in that range too. The same account includes Saudi Arabia.

Plants For A Future lists several shapes for the crown. This is the tree’s upper part, formed by its branches. It may be oval, round, or shaped like a vase. The crown may spread out or grow more sideways. Thus, the tree has no one fixed shape. The supplied species account gives no full-grown height or width. It sets no garden size in feet or metres. The supplied facts on this species omit bark and leaves too.

The species summary says its green flowers bloom in mid-spring. It gives no more exact time for the blooms. Nor does it give facts about the fruit. Plants For A Future lists USDA hardiness zones 6–9. The supplied sources give no other hardiness range for this species. The RHS text gives no UK hardiness rating. It gives no guide to growing the tree either. Kew’s record states the climate, not the tree’s garden care needs.

Most detailed notes on care and uses concern Pistacia atlantica cabulica. They do not show that this species shares those traits. This matters for claims that the fruit is edible. It matters for claims about wood for use too. The same limit applies to how well it copes with drought. It also applies to soil needs and root disease. The supplied facts on this species leave these points open. They give no firm grounds to rate its toxicity either.