Pittosporum tenuifolium

Short leaf box

Family: Pittosporaceae · Type: tree · Not Native

Short leaf box is a naturalized tree found in the Central Coast bioregion in disturbed urban areas at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from December to May, this tree produces dark red to purple-black flowers approximately 12 millimeters long. Growing to 8 meters tall with sparse-hairy twigs, it has a distinctive branching structure. Its leaves are thin, oblong to oblong-ovate, 3 to 6 centimeters long with slightly wavy margins and nearly smooth undersides. The fruit is a small, spherical, hairy capsule approximately 10 to 12 millimeters long containing black seeds.

Habitat: Uncommon waif. Disturbed urban areas

Bloom period: Dec-May

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: CCo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.