Greek schinos — the name for Pistacia lentiscus.

Resinous trees or shrubs, the young branchlets often zig-zagging at the tips. Leaves pinnate, the main stem often winged. Flowers in terminal or axillary clusters. Sepals and petals 5. Stamens 10, attached outside a wavy-edged disk. Ovary spherical with 3 styles. Fruits small, spherical, spicy and oily drupes with a fragile skin.

Grown for the attractive foliage and spicy fruits, often as street trees.

S. polygamus (Cav.) Cabrera var. ovatus from W South America is occasionally encountered in older gardens. Syn. S. dependens Ort. There is a large old tree near the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gds kiosk, and 2 at Government House in Hobart, Tas.

S. lentiscifolius Marchand from Brazil is also occasionally seen, as at Mont Park and La Trobe University in Vic.

28 species native to S America.

Barkley (1957).

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Anacardiaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.