This evergreen shrub is putting on a show of scented flowers on the south-facing wall of Cory Lodge.
A tropical and subtropical genus, Pittosporum contains approximately 250 species from Africa, southern Asia and Australasia. Species occur from lowland forests to subalpine savannah at 4,000m above sea level. They can reach 30m in height and have spirally arranged leaves, five-petalled flowers and a superior ovary. P. tobira has blunt-ended, glossy, evergreen leaves and terminal umbels of fragrant creamy-white flowers which age to yellow. It occurs in Japan, Formosa, Korea and China, and can reach 4m in height. In gardens of the United Kingdom it performs well in warm, sheltered locations.