Chinese privet: Ligustrum sinense (Scrophulariales: Oleaceae)

Chinese privet
Scrophulariales > Oleaceae > 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.

Identification, Biology, Control and Management Resources

Element Stewardship Abstract - The Nature Conservancy

Fire Effects Information System - USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station

Invasive Plant Atlas of New England - University of Connecticut

Invasive Plant Manual - Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council

Invasive Plant Responses to Silvicultural Practices in the South - University of Georgia

Invasive Plants of Asian Origin Established in the United States and Their Natural Enemies - Volume 1 - USDA Forest Service

Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern Forests - USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station

Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas - National Park Service & U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Prescriptions for Specific Nonnative Invasive Plants - USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station

Selected Images from Invasive.org

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Seedling(s); September James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Foliage; Troy Evans, , Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Foliage; May; in flower Ted Bodner, Southern Weed Science Society, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024
Flower(s); Chris Evans, River to River CWMA, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Flower(s); in May James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Fruit(s); Ronald F. Billings, Texas Forest Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024
Fruit(s); Charles T. Bryson, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	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 768x512 / 1536x1024	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 768x512 / 1536x1024
Fruit(s); January James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Infestation; April James H. Miller, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Infestation; Griffin, GA Chris Evans, River to River CWMA, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024
Infestation; David J. Moorhead, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Infestation; David J. Moorhead, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Infestation; Chuck Bargeron, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024
Infestation; John D. Byrd, Mississippi State University, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Control; Privet removal with gyro-trac Scott Horn, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Control; Area after privet removed with gyro-trac Scott Horn, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024
Diagram or Graphic; USDA PLANTS Database, USDA NRCS PLANTS Database, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024

Invasive Reference(s):

Check Invasive.org for most current lists.

Alabama - IPC List
Florida - EPPC list
Georgia - EPPC list
Kentucky - EPPC List
Mississippi - 10 Worst Invasive Weeds
South Carolina - EPPC List
Tennessee - EPPC List
Tennessee - Noxious Weed Law
Texas - Invasive Plant List
Virginia - Invasive Alien Plant Species
Mid-Atlantic - EPPC List
Invasive Plants of the Upper Midwest
Invasive Plant Atlas of New England
Invasive Plant Atlas of the Mid-South

External Links


				Bargeron, C.T., C.R. Minteer, C.W. Evans, D.J. Moorhead, G.K. Douce and R.C. Reardon. Technical Coordinators. 2008. Invasive Plants of the United States DVD-ROM: Identification, Biology and Control. USDA Forest Service. Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team. Morgantown, WV. FHTET-08-11.