Pittosporums are most familiar as small shrubs or trees, grown widely in gardens. New Zealand has more than 20 species, some of which are common throughout the country, while others survive only in small pockets of bush. Some are rare or endangered.
Pittosporums are also found on other islands in the Pacific, and Chrissen Gemmill (pictured above in New Caledonia with a Pittosporum paniculatum) and her team at the University of Waikato is using their genetic diversity to track their origin and migration path to New Zealand.
