Pistacia integerrima

Plant profile:

Fruits of Pistacia integerrima

Morphological Characteristics

• It is a moderate sized deciduous tree with rough grey bark. Leaves are 15-23 cm long with or without a terminal leaflet.
• Petiole is terete, puberulous. Leaflet is stalked, 4-5 sub-opposite pairs, lanceolate,  coriaceous, entire and arched.

Floral Characteristics

• Flowers are greenish – yellow or brownish in colour, dioecious, 0.2 cm diameter, reddish in lateral, puberulous panicles, appearing with or just before the young leaves.
• The male flowers are in compact panicles, pubescent, 5-15 cm long.
• Stamens are 5-7 in number.
• Female flowers lack panicles, 15-26 cm long, elongate, sepals 4, linear and bracts deciduous. Fruit is a drupe, broader than long, glabrous, rugose, grey. Seeds are collected during May-June.

Distribution

• This plant is distributed over dry scrub forests in North - Western Himalayas between 300 and 2400m MSL.  Plant is also cultivated in Punjab.

Climate and Soil

• Plant grows well in open rocky grounds and over limestone soil with good amount of organic matter.
• Propagation Material Healthy seeds after careful scarification.

Agro-technique

Nursery Technique

• Raising Propagules: Seeds are raised in nursery during June - July. About 80-100 kg of seeds is required for one hectare area. Seed germination is only 50%. Seeds are germinated in about 30 days after sowing.

• Propagule Rate and Pretreatment: 80-100 kg seeds/ha at a spacing of 1m X 1m is required. No pretreatment is required.

Planting in the Field

• Land Preparation and Manure Application: Land is ploughed once with harrowing and 2-3 ploughing to have a fine tilth. Organic compost (FYM) @ 25 to 30 t/ha is thoroughly mixed with the soil during land preparation.

• Transplanting and Optimum Spacing: Seedlings are transplanted with the onset of monsoon rains during July-August. An optimum spacing of 1m X 1m is given for accommodating 10,000 trees/ha.

• Intercropping System: The plant can be grown as a pure crop or herbaceous medicinal plants can be grown as filler crop with it.

• Interculture and Maintenance Practices: Regular weeding and hoeing operations are required after 30 to 60 days of transplantation. Weeding is required for 2-3 years in early stages.

• Irrigation Practices: It requires irrigation in first year depending upon soil and climatic conditions. Afterwards 2-3 irrigations are required during summer upto 3 years old crop.

Harvest Management

• Crop Maturity and Harvesting: The tree has a long span of life, that is 30-40 years. It takes about 9-10 years to bear flowers and fruits in July-August and insect galls are formed in natural habitat after 15-20 years during December-February.

• Post-harvest Management: Mature galls are hand picked and stored in air-dried places.

• Chemical Constituents: Essential oil from galls contains αpinene, camphene, dl-limonene, 1,8cineole, α-terpineol, aromadendrene and caprylic acid. Other constituents of galls are β-sitosterol and triterpene acids, pistacienoic acids A and B;

• Yield: An average tree of 15-20 years old produce 0.40 kg of galls.  It is a natural phenomenon and no efforts have been made to introduce gall formation to increase yield or its size under plantation.  A yield of 25 kg gall may be estimated per ha of plantation.

Therapeutic Uses

• Galls possess antiasthmatic, astringent and expectorant properties.  Essential oil from galls is antibacterial, antiprotozoal, anthelmintic and antimicrobial in action.

Close view of plant Pistacia integerrima

Source : Agro-techniques of Selected Medicinal Plants