Chinese / European / Border / California Privet / Amur Privet (Ligustrum sinense, L. vulgare, L. obtusifolium, L. ovalifolium, L. amurense Carrière LIAM)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Plantae
Phylum	Magnoliophyta
Class	Magnoliopsida
Superorder	Asteranae
Order	Lamiales
Family	Oleaceae
Genus	Ligustrum

Scientific Name

Ligustrum sinense

Scientific Name Synonyms

Ligustrum villosum

Ligustrum microcarpum

Common Name

Chinese privet

Miller, J.H., E.B, Chambliss, N.J. Loewenstein. 2010. A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests. General Technical Report SRS-119. Asheville, NC. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 126 p.

Plant

Thin, opposite-leaved, evergreen, thicket-forming shrubs to 30 feet (9 m) in height that are multiple stemmed and leaning to arching with long, leafy branches. Much used as border shrubs. Chinese privet is one of the most widely invasive plants in the South, while other three are less frequent. It is difficult to distinguish between Chinese and European, with probable blurring due to hybridization. Caution: Fruit (berries) is poisonous.

Stem

Opposite, long slender branching that increases upward with shorter twigs projecting outward at near right angles. Brownish gray turning gray green and hairy or not with light dots (lenticels). Leaf scars semicircular with 1 bundle scar. Bark light gray to brownish gray and slightly rough (not fissured).

Leaves

Thin and opposite in 2 rows at near right angle to stem. Chinese and European: ovate to elliptic with rounded tip (often minutely indented), 0.8 to 1.6 inches (2 to 4 cm) long and 0.4 to 1.2 inches (1 to 3 cm) wide, hairless beneath. Lustrous green above and pale green beneath with Chinese having a hairy midvein beneath. Border: ellipticoblong, 1 to 2.2 inches (2.5 to 6 cm) long and 0.3 to 1 inch (0.8 to 2.5 cm) wide, hairless green above and hairy beneath. California: oval to elliptic with wedge-shaped base, 1.2 to 2.4 inches (3 to 6 cm) long and half as wide, lustrous green above and yellow green beneath and hairless. Margins entire. Petioles 0.04 to 0.2 inch (1 to 5 mm) long. Leaves usually persistent during winter, while California privet is deciduous northward.

Flowers

April to June. Abundant, terminal and upper axillary clusters on short branches forming panicles of white to cream flowers. Corolla 4-lobed, to 0.6 inch (1.8 cm) long, with stamens extending or within the corolla. Fragrance causing sinus irritation in many people, with California being the most unpleasant.

Fruit and seeds

July to March. Dense ovoid drupes hanging or projecting outward, 0.2 to 0.3 inch (6 to 8 mm) long and 0.16 inch (4 mm) wide, containing 1 to 4 seeds. Pale green in summer ripening to dark purple and appearing almost black in winter.

Ecology

Aggressive and troublesome invasives, often forming dense thickets, particularly in bottomland forests and along fencerows, thus gaining access to forests, fields, and right-of-ways. Shade tolerant. Colonize by root sprouts and spread widely by abundant bird- and animal-dispersed seeds.

Resembles

Resembles Japanese privet (L. japonicum Thunb.) and glossy privet (L. lucidum), which have larger leaves and are further described in this book. Also resemble native swampprivet (Forestiera spp.), which have leaves on short twigs sparse axillary flowers, and few fruit.

History and use

Introduced from China and Europe in the early to mid-1800s. Traditional southern ornamentals. Variegated cultivars of Chinese privet are widely planted in the coastal South. Deer browse Chinese privet sprouts.

Distribution

Chinese and European privets are found throughout the region in dense infestations along highways and roadside margins, parks and preserves, bottomland and interior forests with most frequent infestations in MS, AL, GA, and SC. Border privet in KY, VA, NC, and TN. California privet in KY, VA, NC, AL, and FL, at present.

Management strategies

Do not plant. Remove prior plantings, and control sprouts and seedlings. Bag and dispose of fruit in a dumpster or burn.
Minimize disturbance within miles of where these plants occur, and anticipate wider occupation if plants are present before disturbance.
Treat when new plants are young to prevent seed formation.
Cut and bulldoze when fruit are not present.
Manually pull new seedlings and tree wrench saplings when soil is moist, ensuring removal of all roots.
Burns hot when green to topkill small to medium-sized stems.
Readily eaten by goats, sheep, and deer when reachable.

Recommended control procedures

Thoroughly wet all leaves with one of the following herbicides in water with a surfactant: a glyphosate herbicide as a 3-percent solution (12 ounces per 3-gallon mix) when safety to surrounding vegetation is desired, or elsewhere, Arsenal AC* as a 1-percent solution (4 ounces per 3-gallon mix). Backpack mist blowers can broadcast glyphosate as a 3-percent solution (12 ounces per 3-gallon mix) or Escort XP* at 1 ounce per acre (0.2 dry ounces per 3-gallon mix and 10 gallons per acre) during winter for safety to dormant hardwoods. Summer applications of glyphosate may not be as effective as other times and require a higher percent solution. The best time period for Arsenal AC* and Escort XP* is summer to fall.
For stems too tall for foliar sprays and when safety to surrounding vegetation is desired, apply a basal spray of Garlon 4 as a 20-percent solution (5 pints per 3-gallon mix) in a labeled basal oil product, vegetable oil or mineral oil with a penetrant, or fuel oil or diesel fuel (where permitted); or undiluted Pathfinder II. Elsewhere, apply Stalker* as a 6- to 9-percent solution (1.5 to 2 pints per 3-gallon mix) in a labeled basal oil product, vegetable oil or mineral oil with a penetrant, or fuel oil or diesel fuel (where permitted) to young bark as a basal spray making certain to treat all stems in a clump; or cut and immediately treat the stump tops with Arsenal AC* as a 5-percent solution (20 ounces per 3-gallon mix) or Velpar L* as a 10-percent solution in water (1 quart per 3-gallon mix) with a surfactant. When safety to surrounding vegetation is desired, immediately treat stump tops and sides with Garlon 3A or with a glyphosate herbicide as a 20-percent solution (5 pints per 3-gallon mix) in water with a surfactant. ORTHO Brush-B-Gon, Enforcer Brush Killer, and Vine-X are effective undiluted for treating cut-stumps and available in retail garden stores (safe to surrounding plants).
For large stems, make stem injections using Arsenal AC* or when safety to surrounding vegetation is desired, Garlon 3A or a glyphosate herbicide using dilutions and cut-spacings specified on the herbicide label (anytime except March and April). An EZ-Ject tree injector can help to reach the lower part of the main stem; otherwise, every branching trunk must be hack-and-squirt injected.

* Nontarget plants may be killed or injured by root uptake.

Images

May	Glossy Privet vs. Chinese Privet: October	September	April
August	January	September	January

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