Pittosporum Identification Guide

Key Identifying Features

Pittosporum is a genus of evergreen shrubs and small trees (family Pittosporaceae). Common garden types include Pittosporum tobira (mock orange / Japanese pittosporum) and Pittosporum tenuifolium (kohuhu). Identify it by leathery, glossy leaves often clustered in whorls at branch tips, small cream-to-yellow flowers with a strong orange-blossom fragrance, and woody seed capsules that split to reveal sticky, orange-red seeds.

• Evergreen shrub/small tree, from compact 2–3 ft cultivars to 10–15 ft+
• Leaves typically whorled at the ends of branches
• Flowers intensely fragrant (orange-blossom scent), especially P. tobira
• Woody capsules with sticky seeds (the name means 'pitch-seed')

Leaves & Stems

Leaves are simple, alternate but crowded into rosette-like whorls at branch tips, leathery, glossy, obovate to oblong, with smooth margins that are often slightly rolled or wavy, usually with a paler midrib. P. tobira leaves are broad (2–4 in) and rounded; P. tenuifolium has smaller leaves with wavy/crinkled edges on dark stems. Many cultivars are variegated with cream or silver margins ('Variegata', 'Silver Sheen'). Stems are often dark-colored (black/purple in P. tenuifolium).

Flowers & Fruit

Flowers are small, five-petaled, cream to pale yellow (or dark maroon in some species), borne in clusters at the branch tips, usually in spring. P. tobira blooms are famous for a powerful orange-blossom / jasmine fragrance. The fruit is a rounded woody capsule that ripens and splits into segments to expose sticky, resinous orange-red seeds — a defining genus trait.

How to Tell It Apart from Look-Alikes

• True mock orange (Philadelphus): Deciduous with larger white four-petaled flowers; Pittosporum is evergreen with smaller five-petaled flowers.
• Cherry laurel / Ligustrum: Similar glossy evergreen leaves, but lack the whorled leaf rosettes and sticky-seeded woody capsules.
• Camellia: Larger, toothed leaves and big showy flowers; very different fruit.

The whorled glossy smooth-edged leaves + orange-blossom-scented cream flowers + sticky-seeded woody capsules combination identifies Pittosporum.

Where You'll Find It

Native across Australasia, eastern Asia, and parts of Africa; widely planted in warm-temperate and Mediterranean climates (USDA zones 8–11) as hedges, screens, foundation shrubs, and container plants, and valued in the cut-foliage trade. It tolerates coastal salt, heat, and pruning into formal shapes.

Quick ID Checklist

• Evergreen shrub/small tree, often dense
• Leathery, glossy leaves in whorl-like rosettes at branch tips
• Smooth, often wavy or rolled leaf margins; many variegated
• Small cream/yellow flowers with strong orange-blossom scent
• Woody capsules splitting to sticky orange-red seeds
• Common as coastal and Mediterranean-climate hedging