The pistachio, Pistacia vera in the Anacardiaceae family, is a small tree originally from Persia which now can also be found in regions of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Tunisia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Sicily, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and the United States, specifically in California. The tree produces an important culinary nut.
Pistacia vera often is confused with other species in the genus Pistacia that are also known as pistachio. These species can be distinguished from P. vera by their geographic distributions and their nuts. Pistachio is a desert plant, and is highly tolerant of saline soil. It has been reported to grow well when irrigated with water having 3,000–4,000 ppm of soluble salts. Pistachio trees are fairly hardy in the right conditions, and can survive temperatures ranging between −10 °C (14 °F) in winter and 40 °C (104 °F) in summer.

Structure determination and synthesis of two novel bicyclic p-menthane monoterpenes isolated from Pistaciavera are reported.