Ligustrum vulgare

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Ligustrum vulgare
Wilde liguster (Ligustrum vulgare).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Ligustrum
Species:
L. vulgare
Binomial name
Ligustrum vulgare
L.
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.

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]

Contents

Description

Berries - 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. [7] 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] [8]

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] [9] [10]

The species was used for hedging in Elizabethan gardens in England, but was superseded by the more reliably evergreen introduction L. ovalifolium from Japan. [9]

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

Invasiveness

The species is listed as invasive as an introduced plant in Australia, [11] Canada, [12] New Zealand, [13] and the United States. [14] [15] It is also fully naturalised in Mexico's highlands [16] and Argentina. [17]

Etymology

Ligustrum means 'binder'. It was named by Pliny and Virgil. [18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ligustrum vulgare L." Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 30 April 2025.
  2. 1 2 Flora Europaea: Ligustrum vulgare
  3. ↑ "Ligustrum vulgare". Plants for a Future .
  4. ↑ "Ligustrum vulgare". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  5. 1 2 Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN   0-340-40170-2
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Bean, W. J. (1978). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles vol. 2: 576–577. ISBN   0-7195-2256-0.
  7. ↑ "Ligustrum vulgare (Common Privet)". Gardenia. Retrieved 2025-05-15.
  8. ↑ Flora of Northwest Europe: Ligustrum vulgare [ permanent dead link ]
  9. 1 2 The Reader's Digest Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of Britain p. 52.
  10. ↑ Flora of Northern Ireland: Ligustrum vulgare
  11. ↑ Potential Environmental Weeds in Australia
  12. ↑ Canadian Botanical Conservation Network: Information on Invasive Shrub and Vine Species Archived 2007-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ Protecting and Restoring our Natural Heritage: Appendix one: Invasive weeds Archived 2015-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ Swearingen, Jil; Reshetiloff, K.; Slattery, B; Zwicker, S. (2010). Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas, 4th Edition (PDF). National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. p. 71. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2006.
  15. ↑ Invasive species: European privet
  16. ↑ 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. ISBN   968-28-0099-4
  17. ↑ "Gavier-Pizarro, Gregorio I.; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Hoyos, Laura E.; Stewart, Susan I.; Huebner, Cynthia D.; Keuler, Nicholas S.; Radeloff, Volker C. 2012. Monitoring the invasion of an exotic tree (Ligustrum lucidum) from 1983 to 2006 with Landsat TM/ETM+ satellite data and support vector machines in Cordoba, Argentina. Remote Sensing of Environment. 122: 134-145". Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  18. ↑ Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521866453 (hardback), ISBN   9780521685535 (paperback). p 237
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