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Lentisque (Lentisc, Pistacia lentiscus)

>From: Alessandra Vinciguerra <library@librs6k.vatlib.it>
>Subject: re: Lentisque
>Sender: library@librs6k.vatlib.it
>Date: Fri, 12 Sep 1997 11:18:07 +0100
>
> Eric and Olivier,
>
> Isn't lentisque slow growing with you? I planted several in a garden I made
> some years ago, after a fight with both the nursery man and the owners of
> the garden. The lentisques  are doing nothing to pay me back, they merely
> survive but without any intention of growing (it seems). I must say that
> here they grow EVERYWHERE from the sea-level to the mountains, and therefore
> they seemed to be ideal for a low-maintenance garden, besides having a
> handsome foliage and nice berries.  How long did it take the nursery you
> mentioned to get the hedge grow?
> One more word: a wonderful lady-gardener I know grows lentisques together
> with Rosa chinensis mutabilis, the reddish leaves of lentisque echoing the
> red stems and youn growth of the rose in the spring, and the dark evergreen
> foliage  giving a good background to the multi-colored flowers. A good idea
> worth trying!

Alessandra -

I assume you are speaking of Pistacia lentiscus, a relative of the
Pistachio (P. vera).  I've been curious about this plant as it was
mentioned in both Heidi Gildemeister's Mediterranean Gardening and
Hugo Latymer's The Mediterranean Gardener.  Each author mentions the
virtues of this evergreen shrub, and its possible value as a
replacement for boxwood in clipped hedging.  I have also recently
see it in photographs of Spanish gardens used as informal clipped
hedging.

For those of you unfamiliar, here is a WWW page with a good summary:

   http://www.beyond.fr/flora/lentisc.html

This is a truely Mediterranean climate adapted plant (apparently a
typical species of the marquis, the Mediterranean version of our
California chaparrel), so I have naturally been interested in trying
it out myself.  The foliage does seem very handsome (small, pinnate,
rich green and slightly shiney, with reddish petioles) and worthy of
accenting as you mention.

I wonder if anyone is growing this shrub here in California?

 Sean A. O'Hara                     sean.ohara@ucop.edu
 710 Jean Street                    (510) 987-0577
 Oakland, California 94610-1459     h o r t u l u s   a p t u s
 U.S.A.                             'a garden suited to its purpose'
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