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Ligustrum obtusifolium

(Japanese Privet)

Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Border Privet, Japanese Privet

Common Names in Japanese:

Ibota-No-Ki

Description

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Family Oleaceae

Trees or erect or scandent shrubs . Branches and branchlets lenticellate . Leaves opposite, rarely alternate or whorled , simple , trifoliolate , or pinnately compound , without stipules; venation pinnate or palmate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary , in cymes, panicles, racemes , umbels, or fascicles. Flowers actinomorphic , bisexual , rarely unisexual or polygamous and plants monoecious, dioecious, or polygamodioecious. Calyx 4(-16) -lobed or -parted, rarely absent. Corolla 4(-16) -lobed, sometimes almost free to base , rarely absent; lobes sometimes united in pairs at base or into a very short tube . Stamens 2(-4), inserted on corolla tube or hypogynous; anthers dehiscing longitudinally; pollen 3-colpate or 3-colporate. Ovary superior, 2-loculed; ovules 2 in each locule, sometimes 1 or numerous . Style 1 or absent; stigma 2-lobed or capitate. Fruit a drupe, berry, capsule, or samara. Seeds with straight embryo, with or without endosperm; radicle curved upward or downward.

About 28 genera and over 400 species: tropical , subtropical , and temperate regions of world, but mainly in Asia. China has 10 genera and 160 species (95 endemic) and is the center of diversity for the genera Forsythia, Syringa, Osmanthus, and Ligustrum.

Many genera are important economically: Fraxinus and Forsythia (medicinal, ornamental ) ; Jasminum, Osmanthus, and Syringa (spice, ornamental) ; Olea (oil ) ; and Fraxinus (timber) .[1]

Genus Ligustrum

Shrubs or small trees , deciduous or evergreen . Leaves opposite, simple , short petiolate ; leaf blade entire. Inflorescences terminal panicles of cymes, rarely lateral . Flowers bisexual , sessile or pedicellate . Calyx campanulate , truncate or 4-toothed, persistent . Corolla white, rotate, funnelform , or salverform , 4-lobed; lobes ca. as long as or shorter than corolla tube , valvate in bud. Stamens 2, inserted at mouth of corolla tube, included or exserted; anthers yellow or sometimes purple, oblong . Ovules 2 in each locule, pendulous. Style shorter than stamens; stigma 2-cleft. Fruit a berrylike drupe with membranous or papery endocarp, rarely drupaceous or loculicidal. Seeds 1-4; endosperm fleshy ; radicle short, upward.

About 45 species: Asia, Australia, Europe; 27 species in China. Ligustrum japonicum Thunberg and L. ovalifolium Hasskarl, native to Japan and S Korea, are widely cultivated in China. No material of L. matsudae Kanehira ex Shimizu & Kao and L. seisuiense Shimizu & Kao, both described from Taiwan, has been seen.[2]

Physical Description

Species Ligustrum obtusifolium

Shrubs 0.5-3 m tall, deciduous and many branched. Branchlets minutely pilose to pubescent or puberulent . Petiole 1-2 mm, glabrous or pubescent; leaf blade oblong , oblong-lanceolate, elliptic , ovate to long obovate-elliptic, or oblanceolate , 0.8-6 X 0.4-2.5 cm, papery , scattered pilose to glabrous or sparsely pubescent, base cuneate or broadly so, apex acute or obtuse , mucronulate , sometimes slightly retuse ; primary veins 3-5(-7) on each side of midvein , often obscure or abaxially slightly raised. Panicles terminal , 1.5-4 X 1.5-3 cm, densely flowered. Pedicel absent to 2 mm, puberulent, pubescent, or glabrous. Calyx 1-2 mm, puberulent, pubescent, or glabrous. Corolla 5-10 mm; tube 1.5-2.5 X as long as lobes . Stamens reaching about middle of corolla lobes; anthers lanceolate, 2-3 mm. Fruit purple-black, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid , 5-8 X 4-6 mm. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Aug-Oct. 2n = 46*. [source]

ID Features: White fragrant flowers in spring. Black fruit. Opposite leaf arrangement. Small appressed buds. Green stems. Gray bark. Purplish fall color.

Habit: A medium-sized, multi-stemmed, semi-evergreen shrub with broad horizontal branching.

Flowers: White flowers. Foul odor. Blooms in June. Borne in narrow panicles. Somewhat showy.

Seeds: Fruit: Black fruit. Small drupe. Ripens in September. Persists.

Foliage: Summer foliage: Opposite leaf arrangement . Simple , elliptical leaves. 1" to 2" long. Entire leaf margins . Deep green leaf color. • Fall foliage: Leaves turn reddish-purple. Not showy.

Landscaping

Landscape Uses: Screen . Border . Hedge . Foundation planting . • Liabilities: Powdery mildew . Leaf spot. Aphids, leaf miners, mites and whiteflies.

Habitat

Hills , gullies, woods ; 100-600 m. [3].

Hardy to zone 4.

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Transplants easily. Extremely adaptable. Full sun to partial shade. Prune after flowering.

Taxonomy

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Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication : Abh. Math.-Phys. Cl. Königl. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. 4(3):168. 1846

Name verified on 31-Jul-1995 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 22-Jun-1999

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Ligustrum

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 304 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

L. acuminatum · L. acutissimum · L. acutissimum var. glabrum · L. album · L. amamianum · L. amamianum var. rotundifolium · L. amurense (Amur North River Privet) · L. amurensis (Amur River Privet Hedge) · L. angustifolium · L. angustum · L. argyi · L. astralianum · L. australianum · L. australlanum · L. bodinieri · L. brachystachium · L. brachystachyum · L. bracteolatum · L. caeruleum · L. californicum · L. calleryanum · L. candolleanum · L. ceylanicum · L. chenaultii · L. chinense · L. ciliatum · L. compactum · L. compactum var. velutinum · L. confusum · L. coriaceum · L. coryanum · L. cotinifolium · L. cumingianum · L. decaisnei · L. deciduum · L. decipiens · L. delavayanum (Chinese Privet) · L. delavayanum morrisonense · L. esquirolii · L. expansum · L. foliosum · L. formosanum · L. fortunei · L. gamblei · L. glabrinerve · L. glabrum · L. glomeratum · L. gracile · L. groffiae · L. gyirongense · L. henryi · L. hisauchii · L. hookeri · L. ibolium · L. ibota · L. indicum · L. insulare · L. insulense · L. ionandrum · L. italicum · L. iwaki · L. japonica (Japanese Privet) · L. japonica var. Korean Choice · L. japonicium · L. japonicum (Japanese Wax-Leaf Privet) · L. japonicum 'Aureum' · L. japonicum 'Coriaceum' · L. japonicum 'Coriaceum Aureum' · L. japonicum f. pubescens (Japanese Wax-Leaf Privet) · L. japonicum f. rotundifolium · L. japonicum Green Century = 'Melgreen' · L. japonicum 'Jack Frost' (Jack Frost Privet) · L. japonicum 'Korean Choice' (Korean Choice Privet) · L. japonicum 'Macrophyllum' · L. japonicum 'Melgreen' · L. japonicum 'Nobilis' (Noble Privet) · L. japonicum 'Recurvifolium' (Curled-Leaf Privet) · L. japonicum Thunb. 'Revolutum' · L. japonicum 'Rotundifolium' · L. japonicum 'Silver Star' · L. japonicum 'Texanum' (Waxleaf Privet) · L. japonicum 'Texanum Argenteum' · L. japonicum var. pricei · L. japonicum var. rotundifolium (Japanese Privet) · L. japonicum 'Variegatum' · L. japonicum Thunb. 'Variegatum' (Variegated Privet) · L. kellerianum · L. kellermanni · L. kellermannii · L. kiyozumianum · L. 'Korean Dwarf' · L. kumaonense · L. lanceolatum · L. lancifolium · L. latifolium · L. laurifolium · L. leucanthum · L. lianum · L. lindleyi · L. lineare

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 04, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Mei-chen Chang, Lien-ching Chiu, Zhi Wei & Peter S. Green "Oleaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 15 Page 272. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Ligustrum". in Flora of China Vol. 15 Page 299. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. "Ligustrum obtusifolium". in Flora of China Vol. 15 Page 306. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/1/2009