ARS | Publication request: PITTOSPORACEAE

Submitted to: Flora of North America
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: February 22, 2006
Publication Date: March 6, 2006
Citation: Whittemore, A.T. and McClintock, E. 2006. Pittosporaceae. Flora of North America. 13.

Interpretive Summary: This contribution will form a section of The Flora of North America, a detailed floristic manual that provides up-to date information on the taxonomy, distribution, and ecological status of all plants that are wild or invasive in all of North America north of Mexico, together with a guide for identification, aimed at professional and sophisticated amateur users. The taxonomy, distribution, and ecological status of all species of Pittosporaceae that occur outside cultivation in North America is reevaluated, based primarily on a thorough reexamination of available herbarium specimens, and a guide for identification is supplied. Six species in two genera are included. All are exotic species that are grown as ornamentals in the warmer parts of the United States. They occasionally reproduce outside of cultivation, but none seems especially invasive in the United States. This contribution provides up-to-date information on the biology of this group of species, along with identification aids. It will support accurate identification and classification of species of this family. It will be used by professional land managers, educators, conservationists, and sophisticated amateur botanists and horticulturalists, insuring that work on land management and conservation will be based on full, accurate and up-to-date information about the basic biology and relationships of these organisms.

Technical Abstract: The family Pittosporaceae is treated for The Flora of North America, a detailed floristic manual covering all of North America north of Mexico. Two genera and six species are recognized; full morphological descriptions, dichotomous keys, and brief summaries of geographical and ecological distribution, economic use, and taxonomic notes are given for each of them. All are exotic species that are grown as ornamentals in the warmer parts of the United States. They occasionally reproduce outside of cultivation, but none seems especially invasive in the United States. This contribution will ensure that work on land management and monitoring of exotic species outside of cultivation will rest on accurate identification and classification of these plants.