Pistacia lentiscus L.

Spice Flower Fruit In the field

Family: ANACARDIACEAE

Genus: Pistacia

Catalan common name: Llentiscle. Llentrisca. Mata.

Spanish common name: Lentisco.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza. Formentera. Cabrera. Dragonera.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Mediterranean

Uses and properties: Aromatic. Edible or foodstuffs. Medicinal.

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Macrophanerophyte.

Habitats: Xero-acanthic shrubs of the mountanous regions, and steppe-grasslands of Ampelodesmos mauritanica. Garden plants. Wild olive trees and other sclerophyllous shrublands. Juniperus phoenicea subsp. turbinata forest. Tree heather maquis and silicolous garigues. Pine wood and shrubland with rosemary and thyme garigue. Pine woodlands and garriques.

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.