| Chinese privet | USDA PLANTS SYMBOL: LISI |
| Ligustrum sinense Lour. | |
| Synonym(s): common chinese privet, common privet | |
Chinese privet is a semi-evergreen shrub or small tree that grows to 20 ft. (6.1 m) in height. Trunks usually occur as multiple stems with many long, leafy branches. Leaves are opposite, oval, pubescent on the underside of the midvein and less than 2 in. (5 cm) long. Flowering occurs in late spring, when small, white flowers develop at the end of branches in 2-3 in. (5-7.6 cm) long clusters. Fruit are oval, fleshy, less than 0.5 in. (1.3 cm) long, ripen to a dark purple to black color and persist into winter. Several privet species occur and they are often hard to distinguish. Chinese privet commonly forms dense thickets in fields or in the understory of forests. It shades and out-competes many species and, once established, is very difficult to remove. Chinese privet was introduced into the United States in the early 1852 as an ornamental. |
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Identification, Biology, Control and Management Resources
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| Selected Images from Invasive.org | View All Images at Invasive.org |
 Seedling(s); September James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Foliage; Troy Evans, Eastern Kentucky University, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Foliage; May; in flower Ted Bodner, Southern Weed Science Society, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Flower(s); Chris Evans, River to River CWMA, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Flower(s); in May James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Fruit(s); Ronald F. Billings, Texas Forest Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Fruit(s); Charles T. Bryson, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Fruit(s); Far from choice wildlife food, but eventually winter-hungry birds will eat the fruit and spread the plant like cancer, wherever land is disturbed. James R. Allison, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Fruit(s); January. Photo from Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses by J.H. Miller and K.V. Miller, published by The University of Georgia Press in cooperation with the Southern Weed Science Society. James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Fruit(s); January James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Infestation; April James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Infestation; Griffin, GA Chris Evans, River to River CWMA, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Infestation; David J. Moorhead, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Infestation; David J. Moorhead, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Infestation; Chuck Bargeron, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Infestation; John D. Byrd, Mississippi State University, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Control; Privet removal with gyro-trac Scott Horn, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Control; Area after privet removed with gyro-trac Scott Horn, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |
 Diagram or Graphic; USDA PLANTS Database, USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, Bugwood.org Additional Resolutions & Image Usage |