Pittosporum

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information:

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Eudicots > Asterids >  Campanulids > Apiales > Pittosporaceae > Pittosporum  

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:                Cheesewood

Conservation status:  ...

Etymology:   

• The genus is named after their sticky seeds, from the Greek meaning "pitch-seed"

Flowers:                  

• The flowers are produced singly or in umbels or corymbs, each flower with five sepals and five petals; they are often sweetly scented

Fruit:                         

• The fruit is a woody seed capsule, which bursts on ripening to release the numerous seeds

• The seeds are coated with a sticky resinous substance. 

Leaves:         

• The leaves are spirally arranged or whorled, simple, with an entire or waved (rarely lobed) margin

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• The species are trees and shrubs growing to 2–30 m tall

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

• The genus is probably Gondwanan in origin; its present range extends from Australasia, Oceania, eastern Asia and some parts of Africa

• Citriobatus can be included here, but might be a distinct (though closely related) genus 

Species:                     

• World:            ~ 200

• Australia:      

Additional notes:     

• Use

  • Tarata (P. eugenioides) and kohuhu (P. tenuifolium) – both from New Zealand – and the Japanese cheesewood (P. tobira) from southern Japan are widely cultivated as ornamental plants in subtropical regions; pittosporums can also be grown indoors as bonsai

  • The petroleum nut (P. resiniferum) yields petroleum nut oil, which is sometimes proposed as biofuel; due to its excessive n-heptane content and consequent low octane rating, it is better suited as a source of n-heptane, which is otherwise produced from crude oil

• Ecology

  • Many herbivores detest the resinous pittosporums, in particular their seeds, which will stick anywhere

  • But some animals eat them with relish, for example the kea (Nestor notabilis), which likes P. anomalum fruit and seeds

  • The cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi) is a common pest on ornamental pittosporums (in particular the New Zealand species); the sac fungus Nectriella pironii often infects Japanese cheesewood

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittosporum (2023)