Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Apiales Nakai
Family
Pittosporaceae R.Br.
Genus
Pittosporum Banks & Sol. ex Gaertn.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Pittosporum ellipticum Kirk, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 4: 267 (1872)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Pittosporum ellipticum subsp. ovatum Kirk, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 4: 267 (1872)
  • = Pittosporum ellipticum var. ovatum (Kirk) Kirk
  • = Pittosporum ellipticum var. decorum Cheeseman, Man. New Zealand Fl., ed. 2, 491 (1925)
 Description

Tree up to 8 m. tall, bark black, branches spreading; young branchlets, lvs, and peduncles densely clad in ferruginous tomentum. Lvs alt., on stout petioles up to 10 mm. long. Lamina coriac., ± 5–10 × 2.5–5 cm., elliptic to lanceolate-elliptic to elliptic-oblong, acute to obtuse. Umbels terminal, 2–5-fld. Sepals ovate to narrow-ovate, acuminate, c. 6 mm. long, pilose; petals linear-oblong, acute to acuminate, c. 1 cm. long, red (occ. yellow). Capsules broadly ovoid, subcompressed, c. 17 mm. diam., tomentose, 2-valved; valves woody, very faintly furrowed.

[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Sep.–Dec.; Fruiting: Jan.–May.

 Bibliography
Cheeseman, T.F. 1925: Manual of the New Zealand Flora. Edition 2. Government Printer, Wellington.
Cooper, R.C. 1956: The Australian and New Zealand species of Pittosporum. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 43: 87–188.
de Lange, P.J. 1998: Pittosporum ellipticum subsp. serpentinum (Pittosporaceae) — a new ultramafic endemic from the Surville Cliffs, North Cape, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 36(3): 389–397.
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [Naturally uncommon]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Naturally Uncommon]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Naturally Uncommon]
Kirk, T. 1872: On the New Zealand species of Pittosporum, with Descriptions of New Species. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 4: 260–267.