''Notelaea ligustrina'', known as the privet mock olive, native olive, doral or silkwood, is a plant in the olive family, found in south eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is known to grow in and near

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

s south of

Monga National Park The Monga National Park is a national park located south west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The closest town nearby is Braidwood. Monga features outstanding high altitude eucalyptus forest and temperate rainforest. It contains the C ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and into

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and the island state of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. The specific epithet ''ligustrina'' refers to the

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 ...

, which it resembles. It is a shrub or small tree capable of growing up to 16 metres tall, with a trunk diameter of 80 cm. It features dull, hairless leaves that are 3 to 10 cm long and 10 to 25 mm wide. Leaf stems are purple in colour and 2 to 5 mm long. From January to April, greenish yellow flowers form

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s extending from the leaf

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

s . Relatively large fruit mature from summer to Easter, and are up to 10 mm in diameter. These fruits are generally a shade of pink, varying from white to a dark purple. Though edible and often heavy yielding, the fruit have a large pip and a strong, bitter taste which gives them little food value.

References

ligustrina Flora of New South Wales Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of Tasmania Trees of Australia Plants described in 1804 Taxa named by Étienne Pierre Ventenat {{tree-stub