Pistacia atlantica Atlas pistache, Atlas terebinth

Pistacia atlantica, Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. Sairus Patel, 5 Nov 2024

Virtually unknown in Western horticulture and entirely eclipsed by its more famous cousin P. chinensis, the Atlas terebinth nevertheless holds its own in some of the Bible’s most dramatic moments. 

It was under the terebinth of Shechem that Jacob buried his entourage’s – and presumably Laban’s – idols. This may have been the very same terebinth at which Joshua later renewed the covenant with the tribes of Israel. Hebrew elah or alah, terebinth, is often mistranslated as “oak,” but that tree (most likely Mt. Tabor oak, Quercus ithaburensis) is more properly rendered from elon or allon. David vanquished Goliath in the Valley of Elah, where, indeed, elah grows to this day. David’s son Absalom was killed after becoming ensnared in the crown of a terebinth while riding his mule in battle against his father’s forces. Absalom’s famously luxuriant head of hair may have been the culprit; certainly, that’s how countless paintings of the event have portrayed it. Still, the wild terebinth’s branches can hang low and form a dreadful tangle.

Two large specimens in just such an unpruned state are at Frost Amphitheater. One, about 30 feet tall, stands on the slope near the intersection of pathways on the east side of the stage. Explore beneath it (mind your head), and you will see its two substantial trunks, each over a foot across, clad in dark, roughly checkered bark. Another of similar girth is on the outer side of the Frost embankment. See it on the right, behind the wall, as you walk south along the path at the northwest corner of Arrillaga Alumni Center. Both appear to be semi-evergreen, holding their yellowing leaves into early winter. The species appeared in a 1956 checklist of plantings at Frost; these trees are likely from that era. At least two other smaller ones grow within the amphitheater.

Atlas pistache is widely used as understock for the pistachio nut and can be somewhat weedy in parts of California, including at Jasper Ridge, where several male and a female tree may be seen. One with striking vermilion fall color grows on Lakeshore Drive, on the left, about 70 feet after taking the first left upon entering the Preserve. Its somewhat bluish, pinnately compound, alternate leaves distinguish it from native trees and shrubs at Jasper Ridge.

On campus, it can be confused with the aptly named Schinus terebinthifolia, but the latter has a terminal leaflet that is longer than the laterals, and leaflet margins that are shallowly toothed rather than smooth. The Schinus is also more leathery in texture (it is evergreen), and its leaf midrib noticeably more winged.

Illustrations: Jasper Ridge photos.