Pittosporeae
A small order of glabrous, or rarely tomentose or pilose, arborescent or erect shrubs, or twining or flexuous-procumbent under-shrubs, dispersed over the warmer regions of the globe, but mostly found in Australia. Flowers white, blue, yellow, or rarely reddish, hermaphrodite, regular or slightly oblique, sometimes borne on terminal, solitary and nodding, or corymbose or paniculate peduncles, occasionally axillary and solitary or fasciculate; sepals five, distinct, imbricated, or rarely connate at base; petals five, hypogynous, imbricated, longer than the sepals; claw connivent or sometimes coherent; stamens five, hypogynous, free, alternating with the petals, the filaments filiform, or dilated in the middle or at the base. Fruit a capsule or berry. Leaves alternate, entire, toothed, or very rarely slightly cut; stipules none. The species contain resinous, aromatic, and bitter principles, which impart a disagreeable flavour to the fruit. Nine genera and about ninety species are included in the order. Examples are: Billardiera, Marianthus, Pittosporum, and Sollya.
