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Pittosporum moluccanum; photograph (c) Wang J.P., some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) Wang J.P., some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2026-07-05

Pittosporum moluccanum (Lam.) Miq.

Pittosporaceae · Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is. +2

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Pittosporum moluccanum, photograph (c) Nina Kerr, some rights reserved (CC BY)Pittosporum moluccanum, photograph (c) Nina Kerr, some rights reserved (CC BY)Pittosporum moluccanum, photograph (c) Nina Kerr, some rights reserved (CC BY)Pittosporum moluccanum, photograph (c) Wang J.P., some rights reserved (CC BY)Pittosporum moluccanum, photograph (c) Wang J.P., some rights reserved (CC BY)Pittosporum moluccanum, photograph author not stated, no rights reserved 50 photographs ›
Habitat figuresfrom few records
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
21.1°C
Record low 19.4 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
28°C
Nov at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,862mm
10 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
33–46DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A sharp rainy season, December to May (the habitat's months, not shifted), in a year of even temperature. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

From few records: 7 records in 7 grid cells. The records.

Summary

Pittosporum moluccanum, commonly known as the Atlas moth plant, is a small tree growing in the Northern Territory and Western Australia in Australia, as well as Taiwan, the Philippines and Malesia.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Pittosporum moluccanum", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Pittosporum

Pittosporum is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the family Pittosporaceae. Plants in the genus Pittosporum are shrubs or trees with leaves arranged alternately along the stems. The flowers are arranged singly or in cymes, with white to yellow petals fused at the base forming a short tube, with stamens that are free from each other. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Pittosporum", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,325 mm of 1,703 mm) falls in December to May. The temperature curve is flat, 2.1 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere. The habitat lies within 10° of the equator, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

1,703 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,325 mm of it December to May. Wettest month January at 256 mm, driest month September at 19 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,224 mm to 2,574 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,862 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,703 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 33 to 46 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 27, the highest 90th-percentile month 46).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 21.1 °C, the absolute minimum 19.4 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 33.3 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 21.5 °C in July and August (across the grid cells of the range 14.0 °C to 22.9 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 27.5 °C in November (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 21.1 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 63 to 72% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +78 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

From few records: this habitat climate is read from 7 records in 7 grid cells; a page says so under 12 records or 5 cells, and shows the figures as read.

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Pittosporum moluccanum through the yearWarmest month November, mean daily high 28 °C; coldest months July and August, mean nightly low 21.5 °C; 1,703 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.10°15°20°25°30°35°33.3° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER19.4° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 33–46RH 63–72%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 7 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C26 / 21–2826 / 21–2726 / 21–2826 / 21–2826 / 21–2726 / 21–2725 / 21–2624 / 21–2726 / 22–2827 / 23–2928 / 22–2927 / 21–28
Night °C23 / 15–2523 / 15–2523 / 15–2524 / 15–2423 / 15–2422 / 15–2422 / 14–2322 / 14–2322 / 14–2323 / 15–2424 / 15–2524 / 15–25
Rain mm256 / 165–440254 / 162–391215 / 151–332204 / 137–241149 / 75–18085 / 43–14664 / 25–14022 / 10–8219 / 11–10047 / 27–163141 / 80–246247 / 162–398
DLI35 / 28–3734 / 29–3737 / 31–3937 / 30–3835 / 29–3733 / 27–3534 / 29–3739 / 35–4143 / 39–4546 / 39–4642 / 34–4436 / 29–38
RH %72 / 70–7472 / 70–7471 / 69–7270 / 69–7168 / 66–7167 / 64–7066 / 63–6965 / 61–6763 / 62–6664 / 62–6769 / 65–6970 / 70–73
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 7 grid cells holding the 7 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1973:6001 (-8.675, 120.075). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 19.4 °C, 1st-percentile night 21.1 °C, 99th-percentile day 33.3 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 7 distinct grid cells holding 7 of the 7 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1973:6001 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -8.50_120.000, lapse-corrected +78 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 252 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeJawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Maluku, Sulawesi · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-7.883, 112.9 · in the densest population, 15 records (27% of those in range)
Kew's description“tree” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 56 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 7 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 53 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 40 km away. 160 records outside the WCVP native range not used. Under a dozen records behind the climate. 49 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 56 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Pittosporum moluccanum, photograph 1did not loadPittosporum moluccanum, photograph 2did not loadPittosporum moluccanum, photograph 3did not loadPittosporum moluccanum, photograph 4did not loadPittosporum moluccanum, photograph 5did not loadPittosporum moluccanum, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Nina Kerr, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Wang J.P., some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); author not stated, no rights reserved · CC0.

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Dendrobium faciferum Dendrobium faciferum Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY, desertnaturalistBruguiera gymnorhiza Bruguiera gymnorhiza Oriental Mangrove Photo: CC BY, Caleb CattoPolyscias fruticosa Polyscias fruticosa Ming aralia Photo: CC BY, Diogo LuizHeritiera littoralis Heritiera littoralis Beach tulip-oak Photo: CC BY, Павлик ЛисицынAglaia elaeagnoidea Aglaia elaeagnoidea Coastal boodyarra Photo: CC BY, Ashwin SrinivasanDischidia nummularia Dischidia nummularia Button orchid Photo: CC BY, Richard Littauer

Other Pittosporum 55 in the reference

Pittosporum angustifolium Pittosporum angustifolium Weeping pittosporum Photo: CC BY, Alex StuartPittosporum anomalum Pittosporum anomalum Pittosporaceae Photo: CC BY, Cara-Lisa SchlootsPittosporum bicolor Pittosporum bicolor Banyalla Photo: CC BY, Corey O'BrienPittosporum brevicalyx Pittosporum brevicalyx Pittosporaceae Photo: CC0, DaderotPittosporum brevispinum Pittosporum brevispinum Pittosporaceae Photo: CC0, author not statedPittosporum cherrieri Pittosporum cherrieri Pittosporaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Coordination EndemiaPittosporum coccineum Pittosporum coccineum Pittosporaceae Photo: CC BY, Donald DavesnePittosporum colensoi Pittosporum colensoi Pittosporaceae Photo: CC0, author not stated Pittosporum collinum Pittosporaceae Pittosporum confertiflorum Pittosporum confertiflorum Ho'awa Photo: CC BY, Kevin FaccendaPittosporum coriaceum Pittosporum coriaceum Madeira Pittosporum Photo: CC BY, Vítor JorgePittosporum cornifolium Pittosporum cornifolium Perching kohukohu Photo: CC BY, Hannah Rogers all 56 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Anasser moluccana; Anasser rumphii; Coffea angustifolia; Coffea arabica var. angustifolia; Cortex foetidus and 13 more. (GBIF Backbone)

Kew accepts as species of their own Pittosporum euphlebium; Pittosporum fissicalyx; Pittosporum glaberrimum; Pittosporum megacarpum; Pittosporum monticola; Pittosporum obscurinerve; Pittosporum odoratum; Pittosporum pulgarense; Pittosporum timorense: older names in GBIF's record of this species that Kew's World Checklist accepts as other species. (WCVP, RBG Kew, file of 2026-06-04)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Pittosporaceae
Described by
(Lam.) Miq.
Native to
Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Maluku +1
Wild records
56 in range · 53 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 7 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (6 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 1 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -8.50_120.000, lapse-corrected +78 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22none of the photographs on this page is credited to GBIF: those shown are other sources', and GBIF's were the same photographs or were set aside by the photograph rules
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 25 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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