Have a look at the various Pittosporum species...

Great suggestion!! As it happens, we have a giant Pittosporum undulatum in front - which tripled in size years ago, when I tried to prune it back - I gave up, lacking the right kind of choppers - however its leaves are smaller and thicker and have curvy edges.

I'll have to see if it could be some other Pittosporum though - I'm sure there are many kinds.

It would have to be a rare one since this doesn't look like the regular kinds we have around here. (Unless it is one of those cases where the young leaves are different from the mature ones,. But this volunteer is already a good 8 to 10" tall, so I would have thought it would have mature leaves by now.)

I'll just try to keep this baby alive until it blooms - that is often when someone figures out the answer.

Pittosporum leaves usually aren't sharply pointed. You might consider dogbane. Hard to tell from your photos but dogbane usually has a reddish stem and opposite leaves. The seeds are windblown, so they travel a long way.

Interesting daninthedirt!!

I don't remember it having reddish stems but I'll look again next time.

I think I'm seeing alternate leaves. Can you show us a side view?

Could this possibly be a gardenia?

I'm sorry about the delay - here are some more pics.

And, is that tiny thing a bud??!! Maybe we will get an answer soon. Exciting!!

One more just in case:

The plot thickens!! I wonder what it will end up being. TIA for any thoughts.

I'm on tenterhooks. Keep us posted.

I feel like if this was an invasive, someone would recognize it by now.

I googled for "California native shrubs with simple, pointed leaves",

one suggestion I'd never heard of was Malosma laurina.