Pittosporum ralphii
Common names
karo
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Tree bearing greyish-green wavy leaves and bunches of dark red flowers and 1.5cm wide fruit that splits into three to show the black sticky seeds inhabiting the eastern North Island and to Wanganui. New growth covered in whiteish fuzz. Leaves 7.5-12.5cm long.
Flower colours
Red/Pink
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Not Threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Pittosporaceae
Taxonomic notes
The name P. ralphii Kirk seems to be a later synonym for P. crassifolium Banks et Sol. ex A.Cunn. If correct this means that the plant described here is apparently without a valid name. Further research into this matter is needed.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Other information
Etymology
pittosporum: Pitch seed
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
PITRAL
Chromosome number
2n = 24
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened