Envoy at 12:44, 26 August 2007

2007-08-26T12:44:00Z

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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Terebinth
| image = Elaerezisraelit.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Sapindales]]
| familia = [[Anacardiaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Pistacia]]''
| species = '''''P. terebinthus'''''
| binomial = ''Pistacia terebinthus''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}

'''Terebinth''' (''Pistacia terebinthus'') also called '''turpentine tree''' is a species of ''[[Pistacia]]'', native to the [[Mediterranean region]] from [[Morocco]] and [[Portugal]] east to [[Turkey]] and [[Syria]], and also the [[Canary Islands]].

It is a small [[deciduous]] [[tree]] or large [[shrub]] growing to 10 m tall. The [[Leaf|leaves]] are compound, 10-20 cm long, odd pinnate with five to eleven opposite glossy oval leaflets, the leaflets 2-6 cm long and 1-3 cm broad. The [[flower]]s are reddish-purple, appearing with the new leaves in early spring. The [[fruit]] consists of small, globular [[drupe]]s 5-7 mm long, red to black when ripe. All parts of the plant have a strong [[resin]]ous smell.

===History===
[[John Chadwick]] believes that the terebinth is the plant called ''ki-ta-no'' in some of the [[Linear B]] tablets. He cites the work of a Spanish scholar, J.L. Melena, who had found "an ancient lexicon which showed that ''kritanos'' was another name for the turpentine tree, and that the Mycenaean spelling could represent a variant form of this word."<ref>John Chadwick, ''The Mycenaean World'' (Cambridge: University Press, 1976),p. 120</ref>

Terebinth is mentioned in the [[Bible]] (primarily the [[Hebrew Scriptures]]/[[Tanakh]] or [[Old Testament]]), for example in [[Isaiah]] 1:29, where the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word "el" or "elim" is often translated as [[oak]] or terebinth:
:''For you will be ashamed of the terebinths that you have taken pleasure in.''
Terebinths are also mentioned in three successive chapters of [[Genesis]] (12:6, 13:18, 14:13) in reference to the places where Abram (later Abraham) camped.

There are at least a few references in Judges; Ch4 (in reference to Heber, the Kenite, of the children of Hobab), Ch6 (in reference to an angel of the Lord who came to visit Gideon. Most versions use 'oak'), and Ch 9 (in reference to the crowning of Abimelech, by the terebinth of the pillar that was in Shechem. Most versions use 'oak').

Terebinth is also referred to in [[Virgil]]'s [[Aeneid]], Book 10, line 136 where [[Ascanius]] in battle is compared to ''"ivory skilfully inlaid in [...] Orician terebinth"'' (''"inclusum[...] Oricia terebintho [...] ebur"'')

===Uses===
It is used as a source for [[turpentine]], possibly the earliest known source. The turpentine of the terebinth is now called Chian, Scio, or Cyprian turpentine.

The fruits are used in [[Cyprus]] for baking of a specialty village bread. In [[Crete]], where the plant is called ''tsikoudia'', it is used to flavor the local variety of [[pomace brandy]], also called [[tsikoudia]]. The plant is rich in [[tannin]] and resinous substances and was used for its aromatic and medicinal properties in classical Greece. A mild sweet scented gum can be produced from the bark, and galls often found on the plant are used for [[tanning]] leather. Recently an [[anti-inflammatory]] [[triterpene]] has been extracted from these galls [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11988853&dopt=Abstract].

==References==
<references/>
*[http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Pistacia+&SPECIES_XREF=terebinthus&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= Flora Europaea: ''Pistacia terebinthus'']
*Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.
*[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]: [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1&letter=O ''Oak and Terebinth'']
*[[Concise Oxford English Dictionary]]
*[http://kypros.org/Projects/Laona/terebinth.html Kypros.org]
*Giner-Larza EM ''et al'', Anti-inflammatory triterpenes from ''Pistacia terebinthus'' galls, Planta Med. 2002 Apr;68(4):311-5.

[[Category:Sapindales]]
[[Category:Flora of Asia]]
[[Category:Flora of Europe]]

Terebinth - Revision history

Envoy at 12:44, 26 August 2007