Ligustrum robustum

Ligustrum robustum grows as a shrub or small tree up to 10 m (30 ft) tall though old specimens of more than a hundred years have been observed with a height of 15 m (50 ft). The fruit of the shrub is an ellipsoid berry, bluish-purple when fully ripe, 7–10 mm (0.28–0.39 in) × 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in).[2][3][4]

Ligustrum robustum
Ligustrum robustum in the foreground
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Ligustrum
Species:
L. robustum
Binomial name
Ligustrum robustum
Synonyms[1]
  • Phillyrea robusta Roxb.
  • Ligustrum ceylanicum Decne., 1879
  • Ligustrum neilgherrence Decne., 1879
  • Ligustrum robustum Sensu Thw., 1872
  • Ligustrum walkeri Decne., 1879
  • Olea robusta (Roxb.) Sweet
  • Visiania robusta (Roxb.) DC.

The shrub is native to South and Southeast Asia (Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam) but has become naturalized in other countries.[5] It was introduced to Mauritius at the end of the 19th century and to La Réunion, where it has become a major invasive species.[6] The Flora of China lists a "Ligustrum robustum subsp. chinense P. S. Green" as native to China,[7] but more recent publications have regarded that name as a synonym of L. expansum.[8]

Ligustrum robustum was nominated among 100 of the "World's Worst" invasive species. A moth (Epiplema albida), and two coleoptera (Dermorhytis ornatissima and Dermorhytis lewisi) are being tested for biological control programs in La Réunion but have not yet been released.[6] Other lepidoptera that feed on this plant are Brahmaea wallichii, Pangrapta grisangula[9] and Dolbina inexacta.

Etymology

Ligustrum means ‘binder’. It was named by Pliny and Virgil.[10]

References
  1. Tropicos
  2. "Plantwise Knowledge Bank datasheet". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  3. Carl Ludwig von Blume. 1850. Museum Botanicum Lugduno-Batavum sive stirpium Exoticarum, Novarum vel Minus Cognitarum ex Vivis aut Siccis Brevis Expositio et Descriptio. Leiden 1: 313, Ligustrum robustum
  4. Roxburgh, William. 1820. Flora Indica; or descriptions of Indian Plants 1: 101–102, Phillyrea robusta
  5. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Ligustrum robustum
  6. T. Le Bourgeois , V. Blanfort, S. Baret , C. Lavergne , Y. Soubeyran and J.Y. Meyer. 2008. Opportunities for classical biological control of weeds in European overseas territories. International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds
  7. Flora of China, v 15 p 302, Ligustrum robustum subsp. chinense
  8. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Ligustrum robustum subsp. chinense
  9. Caterpillar host plant database
  10. Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521866453 (hardback), ISBN 9780521685535 (paperback). p 237


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