Privet (Ligustrum lucidum)
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Tribe: Oleeae
Genus: Ligustrum
Botanical name: Ligustrum lucidum
Common name: Tree privet or Shining privet
Privet is one of several plants which are poisonous to horses. In some parts of the world where they are not native (New Zealand) Here the privet species have become invasive weeds, spreading into wilderness areas and displacing native species. Privet is a huge problem in New Zealand. It is banned from sale or cultivation in New Zealand due to the effects of its pollen on asthma sufferers. Privet pollen is known to cause asthma and eczema in sufferers.
Ligustrum lucidum was originally from China. It was often used as a hedge plant and controlled by clipping . Grows in gardens, hedgerows, forest margins and waste places. It is a t small to medium, fast-growing, round-topped, evergreen tree growing to a maximum height: of 5-10 metres. The leaves are dark green and glossy, oval to a pointed tip and partly folded along the central vein. The flowers are tiny and white and strongly perfumed and in dense bunches. The fruit are roundish, dark purple covered in a white powdery "bloom" and about 6 by 5 millimetres in size. The leaves and fruit are poisonous. The flowers are small and fragrant and borne in panicles. They have four curled-back petals and two high stamens with yellow or red anthers, between which is the low pistil; the petals and stamens fall off after the flower is fertilized, leaving the pistil in the calyx tube.
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