Japanese name: トベラ Scientific name:Pittosporum tobira
[Overview]
An evergreen shrub 2–3 m tall, growing near the sea.
It is dioecious.
It branches well and spreads.
Leaves are simple and alternate, clustered at the branch tips.
The leaves are narrowly obovate, 5–14 cm long and 1.5–3 cm wide, with a rounded tip and a base that gradually narrows into the petiole.
The leaf margins are entire, and the leaves are slightly rolled inward so that the whole leaf is curved back.
The leaves are glossy.
Cymes at the branch tips bear many flowers.
The flowers are fragrant, 5-petaled and about 2 cm across; they are white at first and turn yellow as they age.
The fruit is a spherical capsule about 1.5 cm in diameter; when it ripens yellow it splits in three, releasing many sticky red seeds.
[Uses]
On Setsubun (the day before the beginning of spring) it was hung at doorways as a charm against evil together with sardine heads and the like, so it was called tobira-no-ki (door tree), and the Japanese name Tobera is said to be a corruption of this.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed.
It prefers a sunny place with good drainage and good water retention, and dislikes dryness.
It is easy to grow, but as a plant of warm regions it is not suited to cold areas.
