''Pittosporum angustifolium'' (formerly ''

Pittosporum phillyreoides ''Pittosporum phillyreoides'', with the common names weeping pittosporum and willow pittosporum, is a shrub or small columnar tree in the Apiales order, endemic to Australia. Taxonomy This species is subject to some taxonomic confusion. It was ...

'') is a shrub or small tree growing throughout inland Australia. Common names include weeping pittosporum, butterbush, cattle bush, native apricot, apricot tree, gumbi gumbi (or gumby gumby), cumby cumby, meemeei, poison berry bush, and berrigan.

History

''Pittosporum angustifolium'' was first described in 1832 in the

Loddiges The Loddiges family (not uncommonly mis-spelt ''Loddige'') managed one of the most notable of the eighteenth and nineteenth century plant nurseries that traded in and introduced exotic plants, trees, shrubs, ferns, palms and orchids into Europea ...

' ''The Botanical Cabinet'', published by William Loddiges and

George Loddiges George Loddiges (1784/1786 – 5 May 1846) was a British gardener, artist, and naturalist. He worked in the nursery business established by his father and illustrated nearly 2000 plates of plants in the nursery's own periodical, the Botanical Cabin ...

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

combined this species and ''P. ligustrifolium'' with '' P. phillyreoides''; however, all three were split in the 2000 revision; the true ''P. phillyreoides'' is only found in a narrow coastal strip of northwestern Australia. The weeping foliage of ''P. angustifolium'' distinguishes it from the other two taxa.

Description

''Pittosporum angustifolium'' is a slow-growing plant that can reach in height. It has pendulous (weeping) branches. The leaves are long and thin, long and wide. The small creamish yellow tubular flowers have a pleasant scent. Flowering occurs from late winter to mid spring. Up to in diameter, the small round orange fruit resembles an apricot and can remain on the tree for several years. The wrinkled dark red seeds are held within a sticky yellow pulp. Full sun and good drainage is recommended for planting. Seeds germinate in around 17 days without any particular difficulty at 25 °C. There are around 20 viable seeds per gram. Common names include weeping pittosporum, butterbush, cattle bush, native apricot, apricot tree, gumbi gumbi (or gumby gumby), cumby cumby, meemeei, poison berry bush, and berrigan.

Habitat

The species is found in all states of Australia except

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, and in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. It is a widespread plant found across most of inland Australia in mallee communities,

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

flats, ridges, as well as dry woodland and on

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

y, clay or sandy soils, however it is never common. Pittosporum angustifolium IMG 20190607 084420

It is drought- and frost-resistant. It can survive in areas with rainfall as low as per year. A resilient desert species, individuals may live for over a hundred years.

Uses

Cattle often browse on the leaves, which provide reasonable nutrition. The timber can be used for

wood turning Woodturning is the craft of using a wood lathe with hand-held tools to cut a shape that is symmetrical around the axis of rotation. Like the potter's wheel, the wood lathe is a simple mechanism that can generate a variety of forms. The operator ...

. It is also used as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

in the garden, prized for its weeping habit and orange fruit.

Aboriginal use

Aboriginal peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

used extracts of the plant in various ways as

bush tucker Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora or fauna used for culinary or ...

or bush medicine. Uses varied from place to place and people to people. Some ate or chewed the gum that oozed from branches, while others ground seeds into flour for food. The leaves, seed or wood could be made into an

infusion Infusion is the process of extracting chemical compounds or flavors from plant material in a solvent such as water, oil or alcohol, by allowing the material to remain suspended in the solvent over time (a process often called steeping). An inf ...

for medicinal uses to relieve internal pain and cramping, or to treat colds, muscle sprains,

eczema Dermatitis is inflammation of the Human skin, skin, typically characterized by itchiness, erythema, redness and a rash. In cases of short duration, there may be small blisters, while in long-term cases the skin may become lichenification, thick ...

and other sources of

itching Itch (also known as pruritus) is a sensation that causes the desire or reflex to scratch. Itch has resisted many attempts to be classified as any one type of sensory experience. Itch has many similarities to pain, and while both are unpleasan ...

Western medicine studies

Aboriginal people also used the plant to treat various

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

s; however its effects have not been verified by rigorous scientific investigation. research into various types of bush medicine is being carried out by

Central Queensland University Central Queensland University (alternatively known as CQUniversity) is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus ...

in consultation with Ghungalu elder Uncle Steve Kemp, who has been providing plant materials including gumby gumby parts for the project. The study will include examination of the methods used to extract and process the plants.

References

External links

''Pittosporum angustifolium'': Occurrence data from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7199137 Apiales of Australia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of South Australia Flora of the Northern Territory Flora of Western Australia angustifolium Ornamental trees Trees of Australia Drought-tolerant trees Plants described in 1832