A very ornamental group of plants, often grown for their evergreen, alternate, wavy-margined leaves, which come in a range of colours. Flowers are small, 5-petalled but often scented. Good for hedging, specimen pots, but prefer milder areas, coastal conditions or a sheltered spot.
Capable of forming a dense hedge, especially in windswept coastal localities, Pittosporum species can be of value to sheltering breeding, roosting and migrating birds in such locations as the Isles of Scilly. The flowers may be sweetly scented and do attract good numbers of honeybees and other pollinators, but the seeds are VERY sticky and shunned by most British birds.