Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Apiales Nakai
Family
Pittosporaceae R.Br.
Genus
Pittosporum Banks & Sol. ex Gaertn.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Pittosporum tenuifolium Sol. ex Gaertn., Fruct. Sem. Pl. 286 (1788)
Synonymy:
  • = Trichilia monophylla A.Rich., Essai Fl. Nouv.-Zél., 306, t. 34 (1832)
  • = Pittosporum fasciculatum Hook.f., Bot. Antarct. Voy. II. (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part I, 24 (1853)
  • ≡ Pittosporum tenuifolium var. fasciculatum (Hook.f.) Kirk, Stud. Fl. New Zealand 47 (1899)
  • ≡ Pittosporum colensoi var. fasciculatum (Hook.f.) Cheeseman, Man. New Zealand Fl. 53 (1906)
  • = Pittosporum tenuifolium subsp. fasciculatum (Hook.f.) Kirk, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 4: 262 (1872)
Vernacular Name(s):
Black matipo; Kaikaro; Kōhūhū; Kohukohu; Koihu; Kōwhiwhi; Māpauriki; Pōhiri; Pōwhiri; Rautāwhiri; Tāwhiri; Tawhiwhi
 Description

Tree up to ± 8 m. tall; trunk up to 3–(4) dm. diam.; bark dark; branchlets and young lvs ± pubescent. Lvs alt., on short petioles. Lamina oblong to oblong-ovate to elliptic-obovate, obtuse to acute or occ. acuminate, (1)–3–(7) × (0·5)–1–2 cm., entire, thinly coriac., ± undulate; us. rather pale green above, lighter below. Fls somewhat fragrant, axillary, solitary or in small cymes on short pedicels; bracts soon falling. Sepals narrowly ovate-oblong, subacute to obtuse, silky-hairy when young. Petals very dark red (almost black), ± 12 mm. long; limb spreading, at length reflexed. Ovary hairy, style rather long, Capsules ± 12 mm. diam., 2-valved, subglobose; valves glab., rugulose when mature, thinly woody, nearly black when mature.

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

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Oct.–Nov.; Fruiting: Jan.–Mar.

 Bibliography
Cheeseman, T.F. 1906: Manual of the New Zealand Flora. 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.; 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. [Not Threatened]
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. [Not Threatened]
Gaertner, J. 1788: De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum. Vol. 1. Stuttgart.
Hooker, J.D. 1852–1853 ("1853"): The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae. Part I. Flowering plants. Lovell Reeve, London.
Kirk, T. 1872: On the New Zealand species of Pittosporum, with Descriptions of New Species. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 4: 260–267.
Kirk,T. 1899: The Students' Flora of New Zealand and the Outlying Islands. Government Printer, Wellington, N.Z.
Richard, A. 1832: Essai d'une Flore de la Nouvelle Zélande. In: Dumont d'Urville, J. Voyage de découvertes de l'Astrolabe. Botanique. Tastu, Paris.