''Ligustrum obtusifolium'' (border privet or Amur privet) is a species of

privet A privet is a flowering plant in the genus ''Ligustrum''. The genus contains about 50 species of erect, deciduous or evergreen shrubs, sometimes forming small or medium-sized trees, native species, native to Europe, north Africa, Asia, many in ...

, native to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and northeastern

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 ...

(Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shandong, Zhejiang).Flora of China
''Ligustrum obtusifolium''
/ref> The species is considered

invasive Invasive may refer to: *Invasive (medical) procedure *Invasive species *Invasive observation, especially in reference to surveillance *Invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer ...

in parts of the United States. It has become very common in southern

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, the mid-Atlantic States, and the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

regions, with scattered occurrences in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

, and

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. With '' Ligustrum ovalifolium'' it is a parent of the widespread hybrid ''

Ligustrum × ibolium ''Ligustrum'' × ''ibolium'', called the north privet or ibolium privet, is a hybrid species of flowering plant in the genus ''Ligustrum'', the result of a cross between '' Ligustrum obtusifolium'' (border privet) and ''Ligustrum ovalifolium ' ...

''. ''Ligustrum obtusifolium'' 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 tall. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are long and broad.Siebold, Philipp Franz von & Zuccarini, Joseph Gerhard. 1846. Abhandlungen der Mathematisch-Physikalischen Classe der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 4(3): 168
/ref> There are three

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

: *''Ligustrum obtusifolium'' subsp. ''obtusifolium''. Japan. *''Ligustrum obtusifolium'' subsp. ''microphyllum'' ( Nakai) P.S.Green. Eastern China, Korea, Japan. *''Ligustrum obtusifolium'' subsp. ''suave'' ( Kitagawa) Kitagawa. Northeastern China.

Etymology

''Ligustrum'' means ‘binder’. It was named by Pliny and Virgil.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). p 237

References

obtusifolium ''Obtusifolium'' is a genus of liverworts belonging to the family Cephaloziellaceae Cephaloziellaceae is a family of liverworts belonging to the order Jungermanniales. Genera Genera: *'' Allisoniella'' E.A.Hodgs. *'' Amphicephalozia'' R.M.Sch ...

Flora of China Flora of Heilongjiang Flora of Jiangsu Flora of Liaoning Flora of Shandong Flora of Zhejiang Plants described in 1846 {{Oleaceae-stub