Jepson eFlora: Taxon page
Vascular Plants of California
Key to families | Table of families and genera
Previous taxon Index to accepted names and synonyms:
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 		Next taxon


Pittosporum

Higher Taxonomy
Family: PittosporaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key

Common Name: PITTOSPORUM FAMILY
Habit: Tree, shrub, woody vine, generally evergreen. Leaf: simple, alternate, occasionally +- at branch tips, often leathery, generally entire, petioled. Inflorescence: panicle, cluster, or flowers 1. Flower: generally bisexual, radial; sepals 5, free or +- fused at base; petals 5, free, erect or spreading, base generally +- adherent into tube; stamens 5; ovary superior, chambers generally 2--3, style 1, stigma generally spheric. Fruit: capsule, berry. Seed: several, often in pulp.
Genera In Family: 9 genera, +- 200 species: warm temperate, tropics, Old World, especially Australia, New Zealand, eastern Asia; some ornamental, especially Pittosporum. Note: Sollya moved to Billardiera.
eFlora Treatment Author: Alan T. Whittemore & Elizabeth McClintock
Scientific Editor: Douglas H. Goldman, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Pittosporum
Habit: Tree, shrub. Leaf: tip acute or rounded. Inflorescence: panicle, umbel-like cluster, or flowers 1, terminal or axillary. Flower: generally functionally unisexual; petals generally adherent proximally, spreading distally; anthers free; ovary chambers 2--3. Fruit: capsule, woody, 2--3 valved; pulp resinous. Seed: sticky.
Species In Genus: +- 150 species: warm parts of Australia, New Zealand, Pacific islands, eastern Asia, Africa. Etymology: (Greek: pitch, seed, from resinous seed coating) Note: Some species medicinal and poisonous; saponins in Pittosporum crassifolium.
Jepson eFlora Author: Alan T. Whittemore & Elizabeth McClintock
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
Key to Pittosporum

Previous taxon: Billardiera heterophylla
Next taxon: Pittosporum crassifolium

Name Search

Please use this Google Form for Contact/Feedback

Citation for this treatment: Alan T. Whittemore & Elizabeth McClintock 2012, Pittosporum, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=10032, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.