Pittosporum heterophyllum Franch.

Shrubs ca. 2.5 m tall. Young branchlets gray-brown, glabrous; old branchlets not lenticellate. Leaves clustered at branchlet apex, biennial; petiole 3–4 mm or absent; leaf blade pale green abaxially, green and shiny adaxially, oblanceolate, narrowly lanceolate, beltlike, or linear, 4–8 × 0.3–2 cm, thinly leathery, glabrous abaxially, lateral veins 5–6-paired, together with reticulate veins indistinct on both surfaces, base cuneate, margin flat, apex subacute. Inflorescences terminal, umbel-like, 1–5-flowered; bracts deciduous; pedicels 2–15 mm, tomentose or glabrous. Sepals slightly connate at base, ovate, 2–2.5 mm, glabrous or margin ciliate, apex obtuse. Petals connate, lanceolate, ca. 6 mm, apex rounded. Stamens 4–5 mm; anther ca. 1.5 mm. Pistil slightly shorter than stamens; ovary pubescent or glabrous; placentas 2, parietal; ovules 5–8; style ca. 1.5 mm. Capsule subglobose, slightly compressed, ca. 6 mm in diam., dehiscing by 2 valves; pericarp thinly woody; persistent style ca. 2 mm. Seeds 5–8, black after drying, ca. 2.5 mm; funicle very short. Fl. Mar–May, fr. May–Nov.

Sichuan, SE Xizang, N Yunnan.

Forests, valleys, slopes, stream sides, rocks; 800--3000(--4000) m.

Pittosporum heterophyllum, commonly known as Chinese Pittosporum, is a species of plant in the genus Pittosporum. Native to China and Tibet, it is a broadleaf evergreen shrub that grows to a maximum of 8–10 feet (2.4–3.0 m) tall. It has long been grown in gardens ornamentally, especially as a hedge or screen, in temperate gardens for its densely packed green foliage and the fragrant white to yellow flowers it produces in spring. As a landscaping plant, it is known for being more cold hardy than Pittosporum tobira and can be grown in hardiness zones 7-9 on the USDA scale.