Pittosporum tobira

Pittosporum tobira JAPANESE PITTOSPORUM, MOCK ORANGE

Higher Taxonomy

Family: Pittosporaceae

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.

Genus: Pittosporum

View Description

Dichotomous Key

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.
Etymology: (Greek: pitch, seed, from resinous seed coating) Note: Some species medicinal and poisonous; saponins in Pittosporum crassifolium.

Pittosporum tobira (Thunb.) W.T. Aiton

NATURALIZED
Habit: Shrub, small tree. Stem: < 8 m; twigs hairy early. Leaf: 3--14 cm, obovate, glabrous, leathery, margin turned under; petiole 5--15 mm. Inflorescence: umbel-like cluster, terminal. Flower: fragrant; petals 10--12 mm, white. Fruit: 10--18 mm, ovoid, dense-hairy, 3-valved. Seed: dark red.
Ecology: Disturbed areas; Elevation: < 200 m. Bioregional Distribution: SCo; Distribution Outside California: native to eastern Asia. Flowering Time: Nov--May
Jepson eFlora Author: Alan T. Whittemore & Elizabeth McClintock
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Pittosporum tenuifolium
Next taxon: Pittosporum undulatum

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Citation for this treatment: Alan T. Whittemore & Elizabeth McClintock 2012, Pittosporum tobira, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=38463, accessed on April 16, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 16, 2024.

No expert verified images found for Pittosporum tobira.

Geographic subdivisions for Pittosporum tobira: SCo	MAP CONTROLS 1. You can change the display of the base map layer control box in the upper right-hand corner. 2. County and Jepson Region polygons can be turned off and on using the check boxes.

(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).	Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria. MAP LEGEND View all CCH records All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window. Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location. Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues. READ ABOUT YELLOW FLAGS CCH collections by month Duplicates counted once; synonyms included. Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA. Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).