Why, that one is easy, Tony!

It is that native prairie plant, Rearendicus comforticum; often used by saddle-weary settlers for additional padding. It contains a unique blend of soothing, aromatic oils which are slowing released under the compression of taut denim.

IronBelly

Oh yeah, I forgot you were the blazing saddles expert.

It must be one of these:

{{gwi:20134}}

Is it smart arse Saturday or what. Tell me the friggin' name why doncha.

Some variety of Pittosporum?

Well, I thought you were joking. I'd say pittosporum tobira.

I guess this plant would seem rather exotic up in Quebec, but it is common as mud here in California, being rather ubiquitous as a gas station/fast food restaurant foundation shrub. I would imagine that this would be an indoor mall plant, or conservatory plant in your climate, and the flowers are very fragrant and winter blooming, so it does have its appeal. Besides the straight Pittosporum tobira, there are also variegated forms such as P. tobira 'variegata', which is very nice for lighting up shady spots, and the compact dwarf form 'Wheeler's Dwarf', which makes a very attractive cushion plant for facing a shrub border, but is also more fragile with branches easily broken by errant foot balls. The whole tribe of Pittosporum species from Asia into Australia is widely used for landscaping in the milder portions of the west coast USA. Victorian Boxwood, Pittosporum undulatum from Australia is a large growing tree with similar flowers that are more white in color, and very nice for perfuming whole neighborhoods here in Berkeley/San Francisco in late winter/early spring. The one annoying habit of the genus is the sticky seeds which are a big nuisance over paving, and even somewhat invasive in well watered gardens and climates with wetter summers.

If it is pittosporum (which it looks like), it's not only common in CA, but in the southern states. My mom, who lives in coastal NC, has quite a few variegated pittosporum as a front foundation planting-we thought they were killed by the flooding of the last hurricane, but they have revived & look better than ever...

David: another annoying habit is that like most everything else it doesn't grow here, hey even grass is considered exotic in Quebec unless it is summer (July) some things even shrink in the cold up here. A friend moved from here to coastal North Carolina and sent me the picture to identify the plant and I didn't know it, so I asked. What do I get as answers? A thesis on cowboy hygiene and a lame attempt at humour and then you of all people lecture me on "the straight Pittosporum tobira". All in good fun people, I sent my pregnant friend the answer and she is happy to know.

Enjoy the snow and revel in the fact that you have happy friends and witty friends and knowledgeable friends.

maro

Huh. I thought it was a japonica.
(don't be offended, zamia, it was a joke).

I'm not offended prairie love. I thought the post was a joke too since pittosporums are so common here in FL as well. I have the variegated ones, but this post reminded me that there's a particular pittosporum that has very dark, almost black foliage that I like very much. Thanks for the reminder inkognito!

Bahia,

I just reread your reply and maybe you know the one I'm talking about? It looks very close to the one in the pic above, but darker and blacker (still has white flowers).

Dang, so what do you grow up there by the Arctic Circle? That probably does not quality as a Socratic question. Sorry, it's Saturday night. Just can't help it.

Tongue in Cheek Comment: So is there some reason you specifically described your friend who wants to know the plant as pregnant? Are congratulations in order? ( I am currently surrounded by new grandmas, new moms and soon to be new moms so am very sensitive to topic)

No reason jill just a bit of intrigue to add to the mix, call it calisthenics for the imagination in preparation for another Socratic outing.

Zamiagarden,
I don't know of any other Pittosporum variety that looks that similar to P. tobira yet darker, but you might try google imaging P. viridiflorum to see if this is the one your are thinking of. This one is not nearly as common here in California. There is the species P. tenuifolium that has purple black stems and flowers, and has several selected cultivar forms with various colored foliage. somehow I don't think it would be any of the New Zealand species, because I don't think they would really like Florida conditions. Lophomyrtus would be another New Zealand genus with very colorful and sometimes quite dark foliage that has similarities with Pittosporum and is much used as colorful hedges for bright shade/dappled sun here in California.

Tony,
I didn't mean to sling any arrows regarding not knowing this plant, but for anyone who travels much to warmer climes on occasion, this plant would be pretty common. I would also think that people are growing this as an indoor/greenhouse plant for winter bloom and fragrance even up in your neck of the woods.

I don't know how you all live with such long winters! I was on a garden tour yesterday of some local gardens here in Berkeley, and especially enjoyed one which could be a botanical garden, it has such variety. Incredible tropical looking giant Fishtail Fan Palms that were 30 feet tall already, a Chilean Wine Palm,(very rare here), planted out as a 25 foot tall specimen, and hundreds of South African Proteas, Leucospermums, Leucadendrons in full bloom, just to mention a few things that most caught my eye. It was interesting getting behind the garden gate and finely seeing this Brandon Tyson designed garden in all its glory, and vicariously experiencing a garden that had a much higher budget than I am used to working with...

We may not have the warm weather for going to the beach here, but the plants and early spring blooms sure make up for it sometimes!

Thanks Bahia. I searched the names you provided, and there is a pittosporum tenuifolium called "Tom's Thumb" that has black foliage, quite nice, but the foliage is wavy (and this pitto seems to popular in Europe but not in the states, from my googling). The one I am thinking of was a pittosporum tobira, I'm quite sure - just had black foliage instead of dark green or variegated. No matter, I'll come across the name again.

I find my variegated pittosporum to be easy to care for here in FL: very drought resistant (mine rely on rain...I rarely irrigate them), can take hard pruning, nicely scented, the only thing I don't like is their leaf litter. It takes forever to biodegrade and can trap too much moisture (not needed here!). And yes, they do lighten up a shady area very nicely.