6 University of California Publications in Botany. [VOL. 4 



The most rapid, and for most species the most satisfactory 

 method is propagation by cuttings. These should be taken from 

 the half-ripened wood and seldom fail to strike root if given 

 ordinary care. 



It is sometimes desirable to "work over" one species into 

 another after the plant has attained considerable size. While 

 this may possibly be accomplished by the ordinary methods of 

 grafting, at least in some cases, the procedure known to nursery- 

 men as inarching is more likely to prove successful. 



Botanical Description of Pittosporum (Family Pittosporeaceae) . 



Shrubs and small trees, mostly evergreen. Leaves simple, without 

 stipules, entire or toothed, mostly alternate but sometimes so crowded as 

 to appear whorled on the twigs. Flowers in terminal corymbs or pan- 

 icles, or in axillary umbels, or solitary. Sepals 5, either distinct or 

 united at base. Petals 5, rarely distinct to base, usually connivent or 

 cohering in a tube. Stamens 5, free; anthers erect, ovate-oblong. Ovary 

 sessile or short-stipitate, incompletely 2-celled (or rarely 3- to 5-celled). 

 Style short. Fruit a globose, ovate, or obovate capsule, often com- 

 pressed, sometimes colored and berry-like in appearance, the valves 

 leathery or almost woody, the placentae central. Seeds thick or glob- 

 ular, not winged, smooth but usually embedded in a viscous substance, 

 disagreeable to the taste because of the presence of an aromatic, resin- 

 ous, or acrid principle. The name "Pittosporum" is derived from two 

 Greek words and may be translated as l ' pitch seed. ' ' This term was 

 chosen because of the pitch-like exudation of the seed-coats just men- 

 tioned. 



Key to the Species of Pittosporum grown in California. 



A. Color of flowers black or nearly so. 



Flowers mostly axillary, i.e., each from the axil of a leaf: leaves thin, 



glabrous 1. P. tenuifolium. 



Flowers in terminal clusters: leaves thick. 



Leaves with recurved margins, white-tomentose beneath: capsule % 



to 1}4 in- long, tomentose 2. P. crassifolium. 



Leaves with flat margins. 



Capsule % in. long, pubescent: leaves white-tomentose beneath 



3. P. Kalphii. 



Capsule % to 1 in. long, glabrous: leaves glabrous when mature 

 4. P. Fairchildii. 



B. Color of flowers white, greenish, or yellow. 

 Leaves v.ery obtuse, thick and leathery. 



Flowers % in. long, in terminal umbels, usually pure white. 



Foliage uniformly green 5. P. Tdbira. 



Foliage variegated with white 5. P. Tobira variegatum. 



Flowers % in. long, in terminal panicles, greenish yellow 



6. P. viridiflorum. 



