Border Privet (Invasive Exotic Plants of North Carolina)

Border Privet

Ligustrum obtusifolium

Summary ⁹

Ligustrum obtusifolium is a species of privet, native to Japan, Korea and China.

Description and biology ¹⁰

Plant: deciduous or semi-evergreen shrubs that grow from 8-20 ft. tall; trunks with multiple stems with long leafy branches; the presence or absence of hairs and type of hairs on stems is helpful in distinguishing species.
Leaves: opposite, simple, entire, short-stalked, ranging in length from 1-3 in. and varying in shape from oval, elliptic to oblong.
Flowers, fruits and seeds: flowers small, white and tubular with four petals and occur in clusters at branch tips; fragrant; late spring to early summer (May to July); length of corolla tube length ranges from 1/10 in. (Chinese) to ¼ in. (border); anthers exceed the corolla lobes (Chinese and California); fruit is small black to blue-black oval to spherical drupe (i.e., a fleshy fruit with 1-several stony seeds inside), mature late summer to fall.
Spreads: by birds that consume fruits and excrete seeds undamaged in new locations; can spread locally through root sprouting.

Ecological threat in the united states ¹¹

Privets form dense thickets that shade out and take the place of native shrubs and herbaceous plants. The shady thickets make conditions unsuitable for native seedlings. Phenolic compounds in the leaves protect plants from leaf-feeding insects which include native herbivorous species.

Distribution and habitat in the united states ¹²

All four privet species featured here have been reported to be invasive in the mid-Atlantic region; some are recognized as invasive elsewhere in the eastern U.S. and nationwide. They thrive in floodplains, fields, disturbed forests and forest edges.

Prevention and control ¹³

Do not plant privets. Small plants can be dug out pulled out by hand or with the help of a mattock or heavy Weed Wrench® type tool. Larger plants can be cut repeatedly or treated with a systemic herbicide. Herbicide can be sprayed on foliage or applied to bark or cut stems and stumps. No biological controls are available for any of these species. Known pests that affect privets include a foliage-feeding insect native to Europe (Macrophya punctumalbum), a fungal leaf spot (Pseudocercospora ligustri) and a common root crown bacteria (Agrobacterium tume-faciens).

Sources and Credits

(c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/photos/border_privet1.jpg
(c) Tom Potterfield, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/tgpotterfield/18806158091/
(c) Mads Klinkby, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mads_klinkby/4518579784/
(c) Dalgial, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ligustrum_obtusifolium_4.JPG
(c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/photos/border_privet3.jpg
(c) Sten Porse, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Ligustrum-obtusifolium-habit.jpg
(c) Kenpei, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Ligustrum_obtusifolium1.jpg
(c) Dalgial, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/%EC%A5%90%EB%98%A5%EB%82%98%EB%AC%B4_%EC%97%B4%EB%A7%A4.JPG
Adapted by Kate Wagner from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligustrum_obtusifolium
(c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22878018
(c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22878017
(c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22878016
(c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22878019

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Border Privet

Summary 9

Description and biology 10

Ecological threat in the united states 11

Distribution and habitat in the united states 12

Prevention and control 13