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Pittosporaceae FAMILY

Pittosporum angustifolium

Pittosporum angustifolium

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

This plant contains saponins[1, 2]. Although poisonous, saponins also have a range of medicinal applications and many saponin-rich plants are used in herbalism (particularly as emetics, expectorants and febrifuges) or as sources of raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry. Saponins are also found in a number of common foods, such as many beans. Saponins have a quite bitter flavour and are in general poorly absorbed by the human body, so most pass through without harm. They can be removed by carefully leaching in running water. Thorough cooking, and perhaps changing the cooking water once, will also normally remove most of them. However, it is not advisable to eat large quantities of raw foods that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to many cold-blooded creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish and make them easy to catch[PFAF].

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Shrub
GrowthSlow

Pittosporum angustifolium is native to the semi-arid and arid regions of Australia, being found from the warm temperate zone to the tropics. It is not very cold-hardy, tolerating short periods with temperatures down to about -5°c when it is dormant[3]. Plants succeed outdoors in the southwest of England, though they need greenhouse protection in other parts of the country[4]. Requires a well-drained light loamy soil, succeeding in very dry soils and also in somewhat alkaline conditions[5, 6, 7]. Requires a sunny position[3]. Plants tolerate much wetter conditions in cultivation than they experience in their native habitat[6]. Established plants are drought tolerant[8]. A slow growing plant[6]. Very amenable to pruning, plants can be cut right back into old wood if required[3]. The flowers are strongly fragrant[7]. Although flowers usually appear to be hermaphrodite, many species of Pittosporum are functionally dioecious, with individual specimens bearing mainly or totally flowers of one sex only. Even so, occasional functionally hermaphrodite flowers will appear and, in at least some species, these flowers can be self-compatible and produce fertile seed even in the absence of any other plants of that species[9]. The species in this genus are also very likely to hybridize with other members of the genus[3]. When growing a species from seed it is important to ensure that the seed either comes from a known wild source, or from isolated specimens in cultivation. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[3].

Propagation

Seed - sow when ripe in the autumn or in late winter in a warm greenhouse[10, 3]. The seed usually germinates freely. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle, move the plants to a cold frame as soon as they are established and plant out late in the following spring[10]. Consider giving them some protection from the cold during their first winter outdoors. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5 - 7cm with a heel, mid summer in a frame. Poor to fair percentage[10]. Basal ripewood cuttings late autumn in a cold frame[3]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Pittosporum+angustifolium>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]Australian Medicinal Plants. — Lassak. E. V. and McCarthy. T. · New Holland Publishers · 2001 · ISBN 1876334703 ↩︎A very good and readable guide to the subject.
  2. [2]Flora of Victoria. — Ewart. A. J. · University Press; Melbourne · 1930 ↩︎A flora of eastern Australia, it is rather short on information that is useful to the plant project.
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  4. [4]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  5. [5]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  6. [6]A Field Guide to Australian Trees. — Holliday. I. and Hill. R. · Frederick Muller Ltd. · 1974 · ISBN 0-85179-627-3 ↩︎A well illustrated and very readable book, but it does not contain much information for the plant project.
  7. [7]Brisbane Rainforest Action and Information Network, — http://www.brisrain.webcentral.com.au ↩︎Information on plants in the Queensland Rainforests.
  8. [8]Native Tastes of Australia — http://tasteaustralia.biz/ ↩︎A website with detailed information on around 50 species of native Australian food plants, including recipes.
  9. [9]Revision of Pittosporum (Pittosporaceae) in Australia — Cayzer L.W.; Crisp M.D. & Telford I.R.H. · 2000 ↩︎A comprehensive review of the genus in Australia
  10. [10]Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. — Sheat. W. G. · MacMillan and Co · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.
  11. [11]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  12. [12]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. — Crowe. A. · Hodder and Stoughton · 1990 · ISBN 0-340-508302 ↩︎A very well written and illustrated book based on the authors own experiments with living on a native diet.
  14. [14]The Useful Native Plants of Australia. — Maiden J.H. · Turner & Co.; London. · 1889 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎Terse details of the uses of many Australian plants and other species naturalised, or at least growing, in Australia. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  15. [15]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  16. [16]Wild Food in Australia. — Cribb. A. B. and J. W. · Fontana · 1976 · ISBN 0-00-634436-4 ↩︎A very good pocket guide.
  17. [17]Wild Food Plants of Australia. — Low. T. · Angus and Robertson. · 1989 · ISBN 0-207-14383-8 ↩︎Well presented, clear information and good photographs. An interesting read for the casual reader as well as the enthusiast
  18. [18]The Australian and New Zealand Species of Pittosporum — Cooper R.C. · 1956 ↩︎Rather dated, but still an excellent treatment.
  19. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎