Genus of flowering plants
Pittosporum [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the family Pittosporaceae .[ 1] Gondwanan in origin; its present range extends from Australasia , Oceania , eastern Asia and some parts of Africa. They are commonly known as pittosporums or, more ambiguously, cheesewoods
The species are trees and shrubs growing to 2–30 m tall. The leaves are spirally arranged or whorled, simple, with an entire or waved (rarely lobed) margin. The flowers are produced singly or in umbels or corymbs , each flower with five sepals and five petals; they are often sweetly scented. 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. The genus is named after their sticky seeds, from the Greek meaning "pitch-seed".
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 .
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 cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi ) is a common pest on ornamental pittosporums (in particular the New Zealand species); the sac fungus Nectriella pironii
Selected species
Pittosporum moluccanum Fruiting branch of weeping pittosporum (Pittosporum phillyreoides ) Pittosporum moluccanum Japanese cheesewood (Pittosporum tobira )
Pittosporum aliferum Tirel & Veillon Pittosporum angustifolium Pittosporum artense Guillaumin Pittosporum bicolor Pittosporum brevispinum Pittosporum ceylanicum Pittosporum coccineum Pittosporum collinum Pittosporum coriaceum Pittosporum cornifolium Pittosporum crassifolium Pittosporum dallii Pittosporum dasycaulon Pittosporum divaricatum Pittosporum eriocarpum Pittosporum erioloma Pittosporum eugenioides A. Cunn. – tarata, lemonwood (New Zealand )Pittosporum fairchildii Pittosporum ferrugineum Pittosporum gatopense Pittosporum goetzei Pittosporum gomonenense Pittosporum heterophyllum Pittosporum hosmeri Pittosporum kirkii Pittosporum koghiense Pittosporum lancifolium Pittosporum linearifolium Pittosporum mackeei Tirel & Veillon (Ponérihouen area of New Caledonia )Pittosporum moluccanum Pittosporum multiflorum Pittosporum muricatum Pittosporum napaliense Pittosporum obcordatum Pittosporum oreillyanum Pittosporum ornatum Pittosporum orohenense Pittosporum paniense Pittosporum patulum Pittosporum pauciflorum Pittosporum pentandrum Pittosporum phillyreoides Pittosporum pickeringii Pittosporum raivavaeense Pittosporum ramiflorum Pittosporum rapense Pittosporum rarotongense Pittosporum resiniferum Pittosporum revolutum Pittosporum rhytidocarpum Pittosporum rubiginosum Pittosporum senacia Pittosporum silamense Pittosporum spinescens Pittosporum taitense Pittosporum tanianum Pittosporum tenuifolium New Zealand )Pittosporum terminalioides Pittosporum tobira (Murray) Aiton fil. – Japanese cheesewood, Japanese mock orange (Japan , China , and Korea )Pittosporum turneri Pittosporum umbellatum New Zealand )Pittosporum undulatum Australia )Pittosporum virgatum Pittosporum viridulum Pittosporum viridiflorum Pittosporum wingii
References
