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Pittosporum angustifolium (Weeping Pittosporum) - A slow growing evergreen tree to about 20 to 25' tall by 15 feet wide with pendulous branches and long, narrow gray-green leaves that hang straight down. It has bark that is gray-white or mottled in youth and distinctively white with maturity. In late winter appear the sweetly fragrant small bell-shaped cream to yellow colored flowers that are followed by hard orange fruit that splits open to reveal dark red sticky seeds in the spring.
Plant in full sun to light shade in a well-drained soil and give occasional deep irrigation until established and only occasionally is water required after this. Hardy to around 20° F though new young plants may tip burn. This tree tolerates drought and moderate frost and alkalinity but not heavy or waterlogged soils. It has proven to be a great garden plant because its upright habit is useful in narrow confines and because of its adaptability and drought tolerance in Southern California and the Southwest desert climates. It makes a nice small upright open tree and, although we have never seen it done, Rodger Elliot and David Jones write in the “Encyclopaedia Australian Plants” that it can be clipped into a hedge.
Pittosporum angustifolium comes from a wide area of Australia that ranges from the arid and semi-arid interior of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territories. The name Pittosporum comes from the Greek words 'pitta' meaning 'pitch" and 'spora' meaning seed in reference to the sticky speed of many members of the genus the specific epithet is from the Latin words 'angustus', meaning "narrow" and 'folium', meaning leaf. Other common names for this species include Butter Bush, Cattle Bush, Willow Pittosporum, Native Willow or Cumby Cumby and Native Apricot. The name Native Apricot is in reference to the appearance of the fruit only, as the fruit of this plant is described as not edible and bitter; likely it contains saponins like many of the other members of the genus.
This plant has long been called Pittosporum phillyraeoides in the nursery trade, but unfortunately Pittosporum phillyraeoides is a valid name for a species that has rarely, if ever, been cultivated in the US or even in Australia that comes from a restricted range along the coast of western Australia from Kalibarri and North West Cape. We grew this interesting tree from 1982 until 1993 listing it as Pittosporum phillyraeoides and from 2010 until 2014 – we only stopped growing this interesting small tree as we felt it better suited to warmer places than our cool coastal area.
This information about Pittosporum angustifolium displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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