Ligustrum vulgare

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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.[1][2][3][4][5]

Description

File:- Ligustrum vulgare - Berries -.jpg
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.[6] 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.[4][5][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,[5] but others do not regard it as distinct.[1]

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.[5][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The species was used for hedging in Elizabethan gardens in England, but was superseded by the more reliably evergreen introduction L. ovalifolium from Japan.[8]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:[5]

  • '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

Template:Main article 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]

Gallery

See also

References

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  1. ↑ a b Flora Europaea: Ligustrum vulgare
  2. ↑ Template:PFAF
  3. ↑ Template:GRIN
  4. ↑ a b Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. Template:ISBN
  5. ↑ a b c d e Bean, W. J. (1978). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles vol. 2: 576–577. Template:ISBN.
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Flora of Northwest Europe: Ligustrum vulgareScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
  8. ↑ a b The Reader's Digest Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of Britain p. 52.
  9. ↑ Flora of Northern Ireland: Ligustrum vulgare
  10. ↑ Potential Environmental Weeds in Australia
  11. ↑ Canadian Botanical Conservation Network: Information on Invasive Shrub and Vine Species Template:Webarchive
  12. ↑ Protecting and Restoring our Natural Heritage: Appendix one: Invasive weeds Template:Webarchive
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Invasive species: European privet
  15. ↑ Plantas medicinales. Virtudes insospechadas de plantas conocidas. 1987. Reader's Digest México S.A. de C.V. Printed by Gráficas Monte Albán S.A. de C.V. Querétaro, Mexico. Template:ISBN
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. Template:ISBN (hardback), Template:ISBN (paperback). p 237

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