Wild Pistachio Shrub

The wild pistachio (Pistacia vera; Iradi: miste) grows in Irad as a small tree or many-stemmed shrub in open woodland on dry, stony hills of the Fergana Rim, especially above the lower Naryn, at roughly 600 to 1,600 m. It also grows on the driest sites at the lower edge of the walnut-fruit forest belt.^[1] Trees are either male or female, and they tolerate long droughts. Villagers harvest the nuts in September and sell them to traders. Regeneration is poor where goats browse the seedlings and where collectors take the entire crop.^[1]

References

1. ^ Central Asian Botanical Review (2019). "Pistachio Woodlands of the Northern Fergana Rim." Vol. 17, pp. 89–104.