Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Pistacia chinensis

Flowering branch. Photographer Zoya Akulova, California, USA

Fruiting stems. Photographer Jackie Miles

Leaf. Photographer Zoya Akulova, California, USA

Trunk. Photographer Zoya Akulova, California, USA

Common name

Chinese Pistachio

Family

Anacardiaceae

Where found

Naturalised. Coast and ranges north of Bowral. ACT. Occasionally elsewhere.

Notes

Introduced deciduous tree to 20 m high. Fruit somewhat fleshy. Branchlets hairy with fine hairs. Leaves aromatic when rubbed, alternating up the stems, 10–25 cm long overall, compound, with 8–14 leaflets each 5–9 cm long, 15–25 mm wide, tips long-pointed, margins entire, both surfaces more or less hairless except for scattered bristles along the veins.  Leaves turn crimson in autumn. Male and female flowers on different plants. Flowers yellowish green, with 1-5 sepals, 0 petals, inconspicuous. Flowers in branched clusters 5–10 cm long. Fruit red, finally turning blue to purple, round, to about 6 mm in diameter.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Pistacia~chinensis  (accessed 24 January 2021)

Missouri Botanical Garden fact sheet:  http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=b641 (accessed 24 January 2021)