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| Category: Shrub |
| Family: Pittosporaceae (Pittosporums) |
| Origin: China (Asia) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Pale Yellow |
| Bloomtime: Spring |
| Synonyms: [P. daphniphyllum, Hort.] |
| Height: 10-16 feet |
| Width: 8-12 feet |
| Exposure: Sun or Shade |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 0-10° F |
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Pittosporum daphniphylloides (Daphne Pittosporum) - An attractive evergreen shrub or small tree that grows slowly to 12 to 15 feet tall with dark blue-green leathery 4 to 6 inch long elliptically shaped leaves. I has nicely fragrant light yellow flowers in rounded clusters that appear at the branch tips in late spring. Plant in full to part sun or light shade and irrigate occasionally to infrequently in coastal gardens and a bit more during the warmer months inland. This plant has proven hardy in our garden to temperatures below 20°F, having weathered our historical Christmas 1990 freeze when temperatures dipped briefly down to 18°F and others growing this plant in the Pacific Northwest and Southeastern US note it hardy to USDA Zone 7b (5-10°F). It makes a dense shrub and in time can be limbed up into a small tree. Pittosporum daphniphylloides has two varieties with the one, var. adaphniphylloides ranging from northern Guizhou, southwestern Hubei, northwestern Hunan and the south and west of Sichuan providences in China and the other, var. daphniphylloides, coming from Taiwan, where it grows in valley forests, along ravines, slopes, cliffs in dry areas from 1,600 to 8,00 feet in elevation. We believe our plant to be the later, the nominate var. daphniphylloides from Taiwan. The name Pittosporum comes from the Greek words 'pitta' meaning 'pitch" and 'spora' meaning seed in reference to the sticky seed of many members of the genus and the specific epithet is a reference to the leaves being similar to those of plants in the genus Daphne. We first received this plant from Dylan Hannon, now the conservatory curator at the Huntington Botanic Garden, in 1987 and it has grown to be a very attractive small tree in our garden. It has never set any seed in our garden and our plants are grown from cuttings taken from our original plant. It is presumably this plant, listed with the illegitimate name Pittosporum daphniphyllum, that was included in Peter Riedel's landmark tome Plants for extra-tropical regions with a mention of a specimen growing in Hillside Park (now called Orpet Park) in Santa Barbara, and one growing in Elysian Park in 1941 in Los Angeles.
The information that is presented on this page is based on research we have conducted about this plant in our library and from reliable online sources. We also consider observations we have made of it in the nursery's garden and in other gardens we have visited, as well how it performs in our nursery crops out in the field. We incorporate comments that we receive from others as well and welcome getting feedback from anyone who may have additional information, particularly if they know of cultural information that would aid others in growing Pittosporum daphniphylloides. |
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