Pittosporum tobira
Common name:
Japanese Mock Orange
Mock Orange
Tobira
Japanese Pittosporum
Pronunciation:
pi-TOS-po-rum to-BI-ra
Family:
Rhamnaceae
Genus:
Type:
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon:
No
- Evergreen shrub or small tree, dense, erect habit and rounded, to about 15 ft (5 m) tall, similar width. Leaves alternate, simple, obovate, 3-10 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, leathery and tough, base wedge-shaped, apex rounded, margin revolute (turned under), dark green and glossy above, midrib pale. Flowers cream-white becoming yellow, about 2.5 cm wide, fragrant (orange blossom), several in terminal clusters, blooms heavily. Fruit a capsule, pear shaped, about 13 mm across, green then brown.
- Sun to part shade. Not fussy about soil type as long as its well-drained. Tolerates pruning, good as a screen or hedge, very tolerant of maritime conditions. Heavily used in the southern US and southern Europe.
- Hardy to USDA Zone 8 Native to China and Japan
-
Several cultivar are listed, including:
- Cream de Mint™ (‘Shima’) - glossy mint green leaves with cream-white edges, slow growing to 2-2.5 ft high and wide, compact.
- Turners Pitt™ (‘Turners Variegated Dwarf’) - dwarf, compact, spreading, leaves with creamy variegated edges, to 30 inches (75 cm) tall and 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) wide.
- ‘Variegata’ - gray-green leaves with irregular cream-white margins, small fragrant flowers, to 5-10 ft (1.5-3 m) high and wide.
- ‘Wheeler's Dwarf’ - dwarf habit, 2-3 ft high and 4-5 ft wide, mounding, compact, leaves somewhat smaller, dark green.
- tobira: native name
- Oregon State Univ. campus: west side of Gilfillan Auditorium, in small courtyard.
Click image to enlarge
-
plant habit
-
shoot tip, leaves
-
leaves
-
plant habit, flowering
-
leaves and flower clusters
-
flower cluster
-
plant habit, fruiting
-
leaves and fruit
