Small-leaved Privet

Ligustrum sinense

Small-leaved Privet

DESCRIPTION

Shrub or small tree to 3m tall with hairy younger stems and leaves. Elliptic to ovate leaves 2-7cm long by 1-3cm wide, borne in pairs along stems. Apex acuminate, base cuneate to rounded, margins entire, midrib on lower surface hairy; petiole 3–7mm long.

FLOWERS AND FRUIT

Terminal small white flowers with four petals in small branched clusters 4-11cm long late winter to spring. Tube 0.5–1mm long, lobes to 2mm long, stamens exserted, with filaments 2–3mm long. Small rounded or egg-shaped fruit 4-6mm long turn bluish-black when mature.

HABITAT AND RANGE

Cultivated as a hedge, often found on margins of rainforest and along fence lines in cleared areas from Bredbo New South Wales north to Maryborough, with disjunct populations in the Wet Tropics. Native of China.