Pittosporum

Pittosporum ( or ) is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Pittosporaceae. 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. 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 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.

Selected species



 * Pittosporum aliferum Tirel & Veillon
 * Pittosporum angustifolium
 * Pittosporum anomalum Laing & Gourlay
 * Pittosporum arborescens Rich. ex A. Gray
 * Pittosporum argentifolium Sherff – hōawa
 * Pittosporum artense Guillaumin
 * Pittosporum bicolor
 * Pittosporum bracteolatum
 * Pittosporum brevispinum
 * Pittosporum ceylanicum
 * Pittosporum collinum
 * Pittosporum confertiflorum A.Gray – hōawa (Hawaii)
 * Pittosporum coriaceum
 * Pittosporum cornifolium – tāwhiri karo
 * Pittosporum crassifolium – karo
 * Pittosporum dallii
 * Pittosporum daphniphylloides
 * Pittosporum dasycaulon
 * Pittosporum divaricatum
 * Pittosporum ellipticum
 * Pittosporum ellipticum subsp. serpentinum
 * Pittosporum eriocarpum
 * Pittosporum erioloma
 * Pittosporum eugenioides A. Cunn. – tarata, lemonwood (New Zealand)
 * Pittosporum fairchildii
 * Pittosporum ferrugineum
 * Pittosporum gatopense
 * Pittosporum glabrum – hōawa
 * Pittosporum goetzei
 * Pittosporum gomonenense
 * Pittosporum heterophyllum
 * Pittosporum hosmeri – Kona cheesewood
 * Pittosporum illicioides
 * Pittosporum kirkii – Kirk's pittosporum, Kirk's kōhūhū, thick-leaved kohukohu
 * Pittosporum lancifolium
 * Pittosporum ligustrifolium
 * Pittosporum linearifolium
 * Pittosporum mackeei Tirel & Veillon (Ponérihouen area of New Caledonia)
 * Pittosporum moluccanum
 * Pittosporum multiflorum
 * Pittosporum muricatum
 * Pittosporum napaliense
 * Pittosporum nativitatis
 * Pittosporum obcordatum – heart-leaved kohuhu
 * Pittosporum oreillyanum – O'Reilly's pittosporum
 * Pittosporum ornatum
 * Pittosporum orohenense
 * Pittosporum paniense
 * Pittosporum parvifolium
 * Pittosporum patulum
 * Pittosporum pauciflorum
 * Pittosporum pentandrum
 * Pittosporum phillyreoides – weeping pittosporum, willow pittosporum, butterbush, native apricot
 * Pittosporum pickeringii
 * Pittosporum raivavaeense
 * Pittosporum rapense
 * Pittosporum rarotongense
 * Pittosporum resiniferum – petroleum nut
 * Pittosporum revolutum – rough-fruited pittosporum, wild yellow jasmine, yellow pittosporum, Brisbane laurel
 * Pittosporum rhombifolium (now Auranticarpa rhombifolia) – Queensland pittosporum, diamond pittosporum, Hollywood
 * Pittosporum rhytidocarpum
 * Pittosporum rubiginosum
 * Pittosporum senacia
 * Pittosporum silamense
 * Pittosporum spinescens
 * Pittosporum stenophyllum
 * Pittosporum taitense
 * Pittosporum tanianum
 * Pittosporum tenuifolium – kōhūhū, kohukohu, black matipo (New Zealand)
 * Pittosporum terminalioides
 * Pittosporum tobira (Murray) Aiton fil. – Japanese cheesewood, Japanese mock orange (Japan, China, and Korea)
 * Pittosporum trilobum
 * Pittosporum turneri
 * Pittosporum umbellatum – haekaro (New Zealand)
 * Pittosporum undulatum – sweet pittosporum, Australian cheesewood, native daphne, mock orange (east coast of Australia)
 * Pittosporum venulosum F.Muell.
 * Pittosporum virgatum
 * Pittosporum viridulatum
 * Pittosporum viridiflorum
 * Pittosporum viscidum
 * Pittosporum wingii
 * Pittosporum yunckeri A.C.Sm.