Ligustrum vulgare

Plant species in the olive family From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ligustrum vulgare

Ligustrum vulgare (wild privet, also sometimes known as common privet or European privet) is a species of Ligustrum native to central and southern Europe, north Africa and southwestern Asia, from Ireland and southwestern Sweden south to Morocco, and east to Poland and northwestern Iran.[2][3][4][5][6]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Binomial name ...
Ligustrum vulgare
Thumb
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Ligustrum
Species:
L. vulgare
Binomial name
Ligustrum vulgare
Synonyms[1]
List
    • Ligustrum album Gueldenst.
    • Ligustrum angustifolium Gilib.
    • Ligustrum decipiens Gand.
    • Ligustrum insulare Decne.
    • Ligustrum insulense Decne.
    • Ligustrum italicum Mill.
    • Ligustrum lodense Glogau
    • Ligustrum oviforme Gand.
    • Ligustrum sempervirens (Gray) Lindl.
    • Ligustrum vicinum Gand.
    • Olea humilis Salisb.
Close

Description

Thumb
Berries

It is a semi-evergreen or deciduous shrub, growing to 3 m (rarely up to 5 m) tall. The stems are stiff, erect, with grey-brown bark spotted with small brown lenticels. The leaves are borne in decussate opposite pairs, sub-shiny green, narrow oval to lanceolate, 2–6 cm long and 0.5–1.5 cm broad. The flowers are produced in mid-summer in panicles 3–6 cm long, each flower creamy-white, with a tubular base and a four-lobed corolla ('petals') 4–6 mm diameter. The flowers produce a strong, pungent fragrance that many people find unpleasant.[citation needed] The fruit is a small glossy black berry 6–8 mm diameter, containing one to four seeds. The berries are poisonous to humans but readily eaten by thrushes, which disperse the seeds in their droppings.[5][6][7]

Plants from the warmer parts of the range show a stronger tendency to be fully evergreen; these have sometimes been treated as a separate variety Ligustrum vulgare var. italicum (Mill.) Vahl,[6] but others do not regard it as distinct.[2]

Cultivation and uses

In the British Isles it is the only native privet, common in hedgerows and woodlands in southern England and Wales, especially in chalk areas; it is less common in northern England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, where it only occurs as an escapee from cultivation.[6][8][9]

The species was used for hedging in Elizabethan gardens in England, but was superseded by the more reliably evergreen introduction L. ovalifolium from Japan.[8]

A number of cultivars have been selected, including:[6]

  • 'Aureum' – yellow leaves.
  • 'Buxifolium' – small, oval leaves not over 2.5 cm long.
  • 'Cheyenne' – cold-tolerant clone selected in North America.
  • 'Chlorocarpum' - berries green.
  • 'Insulense' – long, narrow leaves 5–11 cm long and 1-2.5 cm broad.
  • 'Leucocarpum' – berries greenish-white.
  • 'Lodense' – dense, dwarf shrub (the name is a portmanteau of 'low' and 'dense').
  • 'Pyramidale' – fastigiate.
  • 'Xanthocarpum' – berries yellow.

Invasiveness

The species is listed as invasive as an introduced plant in Australia,[10] Canada,[11] New Zealand,[12] and the United States.[13][14] It is also fully naturalised in Mexico's highlands[15] and Argentina.[16]

Etymology

Ligustrum means 'binder'. It was named by Pliny and Virgil.[17]

See also

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.