[1] The species epithet, mackeei, honours Hugh Shaw MacKee, a botanist who collected for over 30 years in New Caledonia,[4] and who collected the type specimen in the high valley of la Tchamba at an altitude of 150 metres on 10 May 1967.

The inflorescences consist of white flowers, forming an umbel and may be axillary or terminal.

[5] Pittosporum mackeei is an endangered species due to habitat loss.

Pittosporum mackeei is an uncommon small tree, which occurs exclusively in the Ponérihouen area of New Caledonia at an altitude of 100 to 500 metres above sea level.

This deer is an invasive species thoroughly adapted to the ecosystems of New Caledonia, and the cause of the continuous decline in habitat quality of P. mackeei and other endemic plant species of New Caledonia's humid forests.