Hymenosporum flavum sweetshade

Sweetshade in full fragrant bloom behind 557 Mayfield Avenue. Sairus Patel, 28 May 2023

A small rather gangly tree with 3 to 6-inch pointed leaves and fragrant yellow flower clusters in summer. The flat seed pods contain numerous flat winged seeds.

See a tall specimen at the northeast corner of 557 Mayfield Avenue. Ten trees planted in 2012 line the parking on the west side of the John A. & Cynthia Fry Gunn Building (SIEPR); they were in full bloom June 2013. Several were planted in University Terrace. Five small ones are scattered around near the southeastern corner of Castaño.

Examples in Wilbur Hall allowed several members of the pittosporum family to be compared; they were removed sometime after 1977. In 2002, two planted at the new Humanties Center didn’t survive.