Herbario Virtual del Mediterráneo Occidental
Àrea de Botànica, Departament de Biologia, Universitat de les Illes Balears
Pistacia lentiscus L.
Family : ANACARDIACEAE
Genus : Pistacia
Catalan common name : Llentiscle. Llentrisca. Mata.
Spanish common name : Lentisco.
Province distribution : Alicante. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castellón. Gerona. Lérida. Tarragona. Valencia.
Distribution in the islands : Cabrera. Dragonera. Formentera. Ibiza. Mallorca. Minorca.
General distribution : Mediterranean
Flowering time : March. April. May.
Life-forms : Macrophanerophyte.
Habitat : Pine woodlands and garriques.
Uses and properties : Aromatic. Edible or foodstuffs. Medicinal.
IUCN Category : Poco preocupante
Characteristics : The mastic tree or the lentisk can grow in to a small tree, is very abundant in the garrigues and under stories of the pine and holm oak forests. The composite leaves, with leathery folioles and the resinous aroma of the plant are very characteristic. On the island of Mallorca can also be found Pistacia terebinthus, this species is only found in the rocky walls of the Serra de Tramuntana, and can be told part from P.lentiscus as it has a terminal foliole (an thus, an odd-pinnate arrangement of the folioles), which is much larger, and are deciduous, dropping off during the winter months.
