Pittosporum rigidum
Synonyms
Pittosporum rigidum Hook.f. var. rigidum, Pittosporum rigidum var. majus Allan, Pittosporum crassicaule Laing et Gourlay
Family
Pittosporaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
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.
PITRIG
Chromosome number
2n = 24
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.
2012 | Not Threatened
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Brief description
Hard shrub with thick wide-angled pale branches bearing often brownish small leathery leaves varying between smooth oval leaves and deeply-lobed leaves. Twigs with rusty or pale fuzz. Flowers dark red, inconspicuous. Fruit a capsule, surface uneven, splitting into two to show the 6-12 black seeds.
Similar taxa
The characters used to distinguish Pittosporum crassicaule seem scarcely sufficient to separate this entity at species rank from the rather variable P. rigidum. Similarly the staus of larger-leaved forms known as var. majus is unclear. P. rigidum would repay critical study using a selection of molecular markers.
Flower colours
Red/Pink
Etymology
pittosporum: Pitch seed
rigidum: Stiff