In the right situation, Victorian box, Pittosporum undulatum, is a nice small to mid-sized shade tree with dense foliage, sculptural branch structure and pleasantly fragrant spring bloom. In the wrong situation, it drops enough leaves, flowers and sticky seeds and bits of seed capsules to make quite a mess. This finely textured and sometimes sticky debris is easily absorbed into thick, shade tolerant ground cover like Algerian ivy, but is difficult to rake from pavement and to clean from roof gutters. Besides, even though Victorian box is not a large tree, the roots can eventually become aggressive enough to displace pavement.
Young trees grow rather vigorously to about ten feet tall and wide, and then slow down somewhat as they continue to grow to as much as three times as tall and wide. They are easily contained with occasional selective pruning. The small, clustered flowers are not as impressive as their fragrance, adding only a bit of pale yellowish white color over the exterior of the rounded canopy. Some people, as well as birds, like the greenish olive-sized fruit that turns orange and eventually splits open to reveal sticky orange seeds within. (‘Pittosporum’ translates into ‘sticky seed’.) Leaves are about two or three inches long, or longer, with ‘undulating’ margins.
Tony Tomeo 