SCIENTIFIC NAME: Pistacia chinensis

COMMON NAME: Chinese pistache

LEAVES: Alternate. Evenly pinnately compound with 10 to 12 leaflets. Oblique at the base. Margin is entire. Leaflets may be falcate. Extraordinary orange-red fall color.

FLOWERS: Dioecious

FRUIT: Pistillate trees have small drupes in 6" long clusters that turn purple to red in the fall. Not showy. Look odd the way they grow out of the twig and remind some people of mistletoe.

GROWTH RATE: 3'/yr. in our shade tree study. This is faster than some other studies have indicated.

BARK: Shallow ridge and furrows when older. Orange lenticels on the twigs.

OTHER: Grows 30' to 40' tall with a round head. Has fibrous roots and no common insect or disease problems. Excellent orange and red fall color. A good city tree that should become more popular in the future. Easy to transplant. Round headed. Use from Kentucky south. A member of the Anacardiaceae family. Looks spindly when young but grows out of it. It is worth a trip to Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham to see some beautiful pistacias 40' tall.