''Ligustrum sinense'' (Chinese privet; syn. ''L. villosum''; in Mandarin: 杻; pinyin: chǒu) is a species of privet native to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

,Flora of China
''Ligustrum sinense''
/ref> and naturalized in

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, the

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and much of the eastern and southern United States (from

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and

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north to

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and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

). The name "Chinese privet" may also refer to ''

Ligustrum lucidum ''Ligustrum lucidum'', the broad-leaf privet,Weed profile: Privet
New So ...

''.

Description

''Ligustrum sinense'' is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

growing to 2–7 m tall, with densely hairy shoots. The leaves are opposite, 2–7 cm long and 1–3 cm broad, rarely larger, with an entire margin and a 2–8 mm petiole. The flowers are white, with a four-lobed corolla 3.5–5.5 mm long. The fruit is

subglobose This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

, 5–8 mm diameter, and considered poisonous. Ligustrum_sinense_berries

Varieties

The following varieties are accepted by the ''Flora of China'': *''Ligustrum sinense'' var. ''sinense'' *''Ligustrum sinense'' var. ''concavum'' *''Ligustrum sinense'' var. ''coryanum'' *''Ligustrum sinense'' var. ''dissimile'' *''Ligustrum sinense'' var. ''luodianense'' *''Ligustrum sinense'' var. ''myrianthum'' *''Ligustrum sinense'' var. ''opienense'' *''Ligustrum sinense'' var. ''rugosulum''

Cultivation and uses

It is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

and for hedges. Several

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s have been selected, including the very

floriferous {{Short pages monitor