Pittosporum undulatum Vent.

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Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Pittosporum undulatum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/pittosporum/pittosporum-undulatum/). Accessed 2024-03-18.

An evergreen tree 30 to 40 ft high in this country; leaves large, laurel-like, 3 to 6 in. long, 1 to 2 in. wide, tapering towards both ends; glabrous, dark lustrous green above, pale beneath, quite entire, but wavy at the margins. Flowers in a terminal cluster of umbels 2 to 3 in. in diameter; each blossom creamy white, 12 to 34 in. across. Bot. Mag., n.s., t. 234.

Native of E. Australia, whence it was introduced in 1789. It is only hardy in the mildest counties; probably the finest specimen in the British Isles is at Rossdohan, Co. Kerry, in the garden made by S. T. Heard, now the property of Mr P. and Mr R. J. Walker. It is about 30 ft high. It flowers from May to July and the blossoms are pleasantly fragrant. The leaves are bright and handsome, the undulations of the margin not more marked than in some species, despite the specific epithet. It is also grown for its showy orange-coloured fruits, which ornament the tree in winter.

P. undulatum is a common ornamental tree in the warmer parts of Europe, also in Madeira, California, etc. It is naturalised in the Azores, to which it was introduced early in the 19th century, originally to shelter the orange groves from the Atlantic gales.