Pittosporum patulum

Detailed description

Gynodioecious tree up to 5 m tall. Trunk of juvenile and sub adults slender, becoming stouter in adults. Bark firm, pale-brown to grey-brown. Branches ascending to spreading, in juveniles absent or scarce until sub adult stage, becoming more frequent in plants bearing mature foliage; in either case branchlets marked by scars from fallen leaves. Shoots, emergent foliage and peduncles distinctly though sparsely puberulent; hairs fulvous. Leaves coriaceous, dark brown-green, chocolate-brown to dark-green, often blemished along margins with chocolate; juvenile leaves erecto patent, ascending, 30–60 × 5–8 mm, linear, lamina coarsely toothed, very rarely pinnatifid; leaves of sub adults similar but wider, with margins less deeply toothed, and never pinnatifid; adult foliage crowded toward branchlet ends; petioles stout, 5–15 mm long, lamina 40–50 × 10–20 mm, oblanceolate, narrow-obovate to obovate, rarely elliptic, margins entire, toothed or with fine teeth in upper ⅓, base attenuate, apex obtuse to subacute. Flowers in distinct, terminal, 4–8–10-flowered umbels, night-fragrant. Pedicels gracile, 10–20 mm long. Sepals 5, 3–6 mm long, narrow-ovate, acute, grey-green pilose hairy, becoming glabrescent. Petals 5, 6–8 mm, broadly lanceolate, apex obtuse to sub acute, recurving almost to base at anthesis, dark-red, pink, very rarely yellow. Male flowers with 5 functional stamens, anthers yellow, stigma rudimentary, rarely functional. Female flowers with 5 rudimentary stamens (often reduced to staminodes), stigma globose, functional. Capsules subglobose, 10 mm diameter, 2-valved, valves initially green, glabrescent, maturing grey-black to charcoal, woody. Mucilage dark orange to red. Seeds 5–8, irregular globose, black, surface glossy.