Pittosporum phillyreoides Dc.

Species

Angiosperms > Apiales > Pittosporaceae > Pittosporum

Characteristics

Tree to 10 m high, with rounded canopy. New shoots tomentose with a dense indumentum of appressed, grey T-shaped hairs, glabrescent; older stems slightly angular, flaky. Intermediate leaves: lamina narrowly elliptic, to 25 mm long, 6–10 mm wide, apex rounded with a mucro, abaxial surface dense silvery grey hairy; petiole c. 7 mm long, flared at the base and folded. Adult leaves alternate; lamina elliptic, 36–40 mm long, 15–17 mm wide, mucronate, abaxial surface silvery tomentose, eventually glabrescent; petiole 4–6 mm long. Inflorescences are solitary or paired flowers, terminal or axillary, with 2 rows of overlapping bracts and a single c. 4 mm long bracteole at the base of the peduncles; peduncles angular, hairy, c. 5 mm long if terminal, longer if axillary. Sepals tiny, 1–2 mm long, narrowly triangular, margin hairy, revolute. Petals 6–8 mm long, cohering in throat then recurved, yellow, margin sparsely hairy. Male flowers have yellow anthers exserted at petal break with copious pollen; anthers much shorter than filaments, not versatile; filaments thick, tapering; pistil with a slender ovary with few ovules, about the same length as the style, stigma slightly capitate. Female flowers with short, shrivelled staminodes barely reaching a third of the way up the ovary, not exserted; pistil has a thick receptacle and a fat, turgid ovary. Fruit dehiscent, ellipsoid, c. 13 mm long and 8 mm wide, ± truncate base, thickened, unilocular, 2-and 3-valved, brown-orange, with T-shaped hairs towards base, style persisting. Seeds 1–3 per loculus, more globose than reniform, to 4 mm long, red-brown, sticky.
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A small tree. It grows 4-8 m high. It spreads 2-5 m across. The branches hang down in a weeping fashion. They can droop to near ground level. The bark is pale grey and fairly smooth. The leaves are narrow. They are 5-10 cm long and bright green. They are 6-10 mm wide. They have a smooth, hooked point. The flowers are creamy-yellow. They are small and bell shaped. They occur in masses. They have a perfume. The fruit are orange berries. They split open when ripe to reveal deep red, sticky seeds.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support -
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) 1.5 - 3.0
Mature height (meter) 4.5 - 4.75
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

It grows in warm temperate regions but will also grow in arid and semi-arid places. It needs well drained soil. It can grow in full sun or light shade. It can stand heavy frosts. In the Inland Botanical Gardens Mildura.
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Habitat
Light 6-8
Soil humidity 2-7
Soil texture 3-6
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-10

Usage

The seeds are pounded to flour for food.
Uses animal food environmental use food material medicinal wood
Edible gums seeds
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seeds but they do not germinate easily. It is easy to grow on light soils.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -5
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Pittosporum phillyreoides unspecified picture
Pittosporum phillyreoides unspecified picture

Distribution

Pittosporum phillyreoides world distribution map, present in Australia

Conservation status

Pittosporum phillyreoides threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:684635-1
WFO ID wfo-0001094701
COL ID 6VM2J
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Pittosporum phillyreoides Pittosporum lanceolatum Pittosporum ligustrifolium Pittosporum longifolium Pittosporum ligustrifolium Pittosporum oleaefolium Pittosporum phillyraeoides var. microcarpa Pittosporum oleifolium Pittosporum roeanum Pittosporum acacioides Pittosporum salicinum