Overview

Appearance: Ligustrum ovalifolium can grow up to 16.4 ft. (5 m) tall with spreading or arching branches.
Foliage: Leaves are elliptic-ovate to elliptic-oblong, 1.2-2.4 in. (3-6 cm) long, acute, broad-cuneate, dark lustrous green above, yellowish green below. Petioles are 0.12-0.16 in. (3-4 mm) long.
Flowers: Flowers are creamy-white with an unpleasant scent, subsessile in panicles 2-4 in. (5-10 cm) long. Corollas are 0.3 in. (8 mm) long with anthers as long as lobes.
Fruit: Fruits of Ligustrum ovalifolium are 0.2-0.28 in. (5-7 mm) across, and are black when they mature.
Ecological Threat: Ligustrum ovalifolium may invade roadsides, in old fields and in other disturbed habitats. It can also invade natural areas such as floodplain forests and woodlands. It may displace shrubs in regenerating communities and remain persistent in these areas. Ligustrum ovalifolium can form dense thickets that outcompete many kinds of native vegetation. It has been found in California, Canada, the Eastern U.S. States West to Texas and in Puerto Rico.

Resources

Invasive Plant Atlas of New England (IPANE) [1]
University of California, Jepson Flora Project [2]
USDA NRCS PLANTS [3]
USDA ARS GRIN [4]