Terebinth (Pistacia terebinthus) also called turpentine tree is a small deciduous tree or shrub related to the pistachio native to the Mediterranean region. It was used as a source for turpentine, possibly the earliest known source. The turpentine of the terebinth is now called Chian, Scio, or Cyprian turpentine.

Terebinth is mentioned in the Bible, for example in Isaiah, chapter 1, verse 29, where the 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.

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^* ebur")

The compound leaves are opposite odd pinneate with five to eleven glossy oval leaflets with a strong resinous smell. Flowers are reddish-purple in colour and appear between March and April. The fruit consists of small, globular nutlets which are brown when ripe.

The fruits are used in Cyprus for baking of a speciality village bread. 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 ^*.

References

• Jewish Encyclopedia
• Concise Oxford English Dictionary
• Kypros.org
• Giner-Larza EM et al, Anti-inflammatory triterpenes from Pistacia terebinthus galls, Planta Med. 2002 Apr;68(4):311-5.

Sapindales

Pistachier térébinthe | Terpentijnboom