Pittosporum undulatum
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| Pittosporum undulatum | ||||||||||||||
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| Pittosporum undulatum Vent. |
Pittosporum undulatum is a tree growing to 15m tall with wavy (undulating) leaf edges. It is sometimes also known known as Sweet Pittosporum, Native Daphne, Australian Cheesewood or Mock Orange. It carries conspicuous orange fruits about 1cm in diameter for several months after flowering in spring or early summer.
Originally Pittosporum undulatum grew in moist areas on the Australian east coast but has drastically increased its range since European settlement. It is a fast grower, so much so that it has become a weed in other parts of Australia as well in the Caribbean and in Hawaii. Even around the Sydney area to which it is native, P. undulatum has spread to soils and bushland to which it didn't belong, out-competing other plants. It has done especially well in areas where the environment has been altered by humans - for example by habitat fragmentation weakening other natives, by fertilizer runoff from homes increasing soil nutrients and by the suppression of bushfires near suburbs. Unlike most natives, P. undulatum takes advantage of high nutrient levels and its seeds can germinate without needing fire.
[edit] References
- PlantNET New South Wales Flora Online: Pittosporum undulatum
- Australian Plants: Pittosporum undulatum
- Pittosporum undulatum - Traitor or Survivor? (pdf file)
- Rose, S (1997). "Influence of suburban edges on invasion of Pittosporum undulatum into the bushland of northern Sydney, Australia". Austral Ecology 22: 89. doi:.
