Geographic Distribution
The tree that yields the edible, and highly popular, nut known as the “pistachio” in English, is known to botanists and other plant scientists by its Latin name Pistacia vera.
Many sources list Iran, or Persia at the time, as the native source of P. vera and Iran to this day remains, by far, the most significant producer of pistachio nuts for human consumption, with the United States in a far distance second place with less than half the Iranian production.
However, it may never be possible to know exactly where P. vera originated simply because it has been a food source of humans since pre-historic times. Archaeologists at the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov site in Israel’s Hula Valley, dated to 780,000 years ago, found the remains of pistachio nuts, shells, and tools used to crack the nuts. Pliny the Elder noted that pistachios were introduced to Rome from Syria as early as 35 CE. While the exact location(s) in which the P. vera shrub, or tree, originated may never be known with exactitude, we can know that it was well established and exploited by very early human societies in the Near and Middle East well before recorded history began.
Pistachio Exterior
Today, P. vera is grown in a range of countries that provide suitable climates, especially very hot summers and frost free winters, which include, in addition to the aforementioned Iran and United States, Turkey, China, Syria, and Australia. Other nations in Europe, Central Asia and Africa also produce much smaller amounts of pistachio commercially. A native grove is preserved in the Nooken District of Jalal-Abad Province of Kyrgyzstan.
For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to P. vera from this point forward simply as Pistachio.
General Characteristics
The heartwood of the Pistachio tree tends to be variable in color. Known colors range from a light olive green to an orange or purplish brown. These variable colors are frequently seen with darker brown to black stripes distributed throughout. The sapwood tends to be moderately wide and well demarcated from the heartwood. This sapwood is generally of a pale yellow to gray color.
Some users familiar with both woods report that Pistachio wood is quite similar to Claro Walnut harvested from orchards, especially due to the common presence of graft lines in the wood which mark where the scion, or smaller tree stock, has been grafted onto the hardier rootstock. This is a very common method of propagation for nut bearing trees, including both English Walnuts grafted onto Claro Walnut rootstocks and Pistachio grafted onto rootstocks of at least one year of age, although usually of the same species and cultivar.
The grain of the Pistachio tends to be quite wild and irregular. Bark inclusions are also not uncommon. This is most likely due to the generally small size of the trees, which are kept small by pruning to make harvesting easier.
Pistachio Reverse
The end-grain of Pistachio shows medium to large pores in a ring, or semi-ring, arrangement. Rays are present and are of a medium to narrow size. Occasionally, mineral and/or gum deposits will be found.
There is no known data regarding the rot or insect resistance characteristics of Pistachio wood.
A reasonably good source of general information about Pistachio trees and their cultivation is Mark’s Fruit Crops operated by the dean of the University of Delaware’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Working Characteristics
Pistachio is rarely harvested for timber because the tree is much too valuable as a nut producer. In addition, the trees are kept small and are not usually of a size considered adequate to harvest for lumber even if they are removed due to disease or for other reasons. Because of this, there are no standard data available regarding the working characteristics of Pistachio wood.