PITTOSPORUM tobira 'Nanum'

Elegant variety of Pittosporum tobira, rustic, perennial and evergreen, with a fast growth, with a bushy, contained, compact and globular habit and with Asian origins: when fully developed it can reach one meter in height and even more in width. Lignified and densely branched from the base, it has numerous stems with a silvery-brown bark, erect and spread apart, oriented in every direction and repeatedly divided, which together tend to make the plant assume a regular, thick, and roundish appearance. The leaves, small and leathery, glabrous, shiny, obovate with smooth margins and obtuse apex, dark green in color, develop alternately from very close internodes; in late spring, at the apexes of the new branches, abundant small hemispherical inflorescences are formed, composed of white flowers with five-lobed corolla, intensely perfumed and coveted by insects in general. They are followed in autumn, and remain throughout the winter, by spherical yellowish woody fruits, containing various seeds immersed in a viscous pulp: it is precisely from this peculiarity that the term of genus "Pittosporum" comes, which in Greek means precisely "resinous seed ".

Suitable for any exposure, enjoying both a sunny position and partial or total shade, it grows well in any type of soil, as long as it is permeable and well drained. It tolerates the presence of saltiness typical of the marine winds of coastal areas, and easily overcomes prolonged periods of drought, although it benefits from constant wetting in summer. It bears minimum winter temperatures of several degrees below zero, but where the cold is particularly intense and long-lasting, choose a sheltered position or give it shelter in a cool and bright place in winter. It does not require special pruning to give it a shaped shape, since it tends to have a spherical shape in a natural way: in any case at the end of winter it is possible to eliminate dry, broken, damaged and bulky parts and perhaps perform a light topping of the various stems to further stimulate its dense growth and to increase its flowering and subsequent fruiting. Of great effect in pots and large containers on balconies and terraces, in the open ground it is chosen to easily create, by arranging several specimens in sequence, low dazzling borders in any season of the year: however, let's think about it also accompanied by other small bushes or herbaceous plants. a certain size, from the foliage and complementary or scalar blooms, to create mixed edges with simple care.