''Pittosporum undulatum'' is a fast-growing tree in the family

Pittosporaceae Pittosporaceae is a family of flowering plants that consists of 200–240 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas in 9 genera. Habitats range from tropical to temperate climates of the Afrotropical, Indomalayan, Oceanian, and Australasian r ...

. It is sometimes also known as sweet pittosporum, native daphne, Australian cheesewood, Victorian box or mock orange. ''P. undulatum'' has become invasive in parts of Australia where it is not indigenous. It is also highly invasive in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

and southern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Description

''Pittosporum undulatum'' grows as a shrub or small tree to tall. Its evergreen leaves are lance-shaped (lanceolate), with wavy (undulating) margins. It carries conspicuous orange woody

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s about 1 cm in diameter for several months after flowering in spring or early summer.

Taxonomy

French botanist

Étienne Pierre Ventenat Étienne Pierre Ventenat (1 March 1757 – 13 August 1808) was a French botanist born in Limoges. He was the brother of naturalist Louis Ventenat (1765–1794). While employed as director of the ecclesiastic library Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, ...

described ''Pittosporum undulatum'' in 1802.

Distribution and habitat

Originally ''Pittosporum undulatum'' grew in moist areas on the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n east coast, where its natural range was from south-east Queensland to eastern Victoria, but has increased its range since European settlement.

Ecology

Likely pollinators of its flowers are moths and butterflies, as the flower produces a fragrant perfume at night. The fruit are eaten by currawongs, red-whiskered bulbuls, Indian mynahs and grey-headed flying fox. Seed is dispersed in bird faeces.

Invasive species

According to the

Australasian Virtual Herbarium The ''Australasian Virtual Herbarium'' (AVH) is an online resource that allows access to plant specimen data held by various Australian and New Zealand herbaria. It is part of the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), and was formed by the amalgama ...

, the earliest-known record of ''P. undulatum'' is from

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

, Sydney, in 1803. However, its status around the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

area is contentious. Even though it is native to the region, it has spread to soils and bushland where it wasn't found before European settlement, often out-competing other plants. ''P. undulatum'' is the most invasive tree species in the

, and has spread through most of the mid- to low-altitude forests, out-shading and replacing native trees, such as ''

Myrica faya ''Myrica faya'' (firetree, faya or haya; syn. ''Morella faya'' (Ait.) Wilbur) is a species of ''Myrica'', native to Macaronesia (the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands), and possibly also western coastal mainland Portugal. Description It ...

'' and ''

Laurus azorica ''Laurus azorica'', the Azores laurel or Macaronesian laurel, is a small, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae), found only on the Azores island group in the North Atlantic. Description The Azores laurel is a small dioecious tree, grow ...

''. ''P. undulatum'' has done especially well in areas where the environment has been altered by humans – for example by

habitat fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological proces ...

weakening other natives, due to

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

runoff from homes increasing soil nutrients, and by the suppression of

bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

near suburbs. Unlike most natives, it takes advantage of high nutrient levels and its seeds can germinate without needing fire. That has led to the species sometimes receiving the "invasive" label, although some think that it is merely returning to areas where it grew before people arrived in Australia and began burning the environment far beyond that which previously occurred. Recommended control measures have included the identification and selective removal of female trees to prevent spread, as well as careful burning, where possible, together with follow-up weeding.

Gallery

File:Pittosporum undulatum (Flower).jpg, Detail of flowers File:Pittosporum undulatum flower closeup.jpg, ''Pittosporum undulatum'' flower closeup File:Pittosporum.jpg, ''Pittosporum undulatum'' c. 1860 File:Pittosporum undulatum (habit).jpg, ''P. undulatum'' in the

Oxley Wild Rivers National Park The Oxley Wild Rivers National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia in the Port Macquarie-Hastings City Council and Walcha Shire councils. The park is situated nort ...

References

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q7199152 undulatum Apiales of Australia Trees of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Flora of Victoria (state) Garden plants of Australia Ornamental trees Shrubs Introduced plants of South America Taxa named by Étienne Pierre Ventenat