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 An Illustrated Guide to
Common Weeds
of New Zealand
Ligustrum
lucidum
tree
privet
Family
OLEACEAE
Reproduced from
Common Weeds of New Zealand
by Ian Popay, Paul Champion & Trevor James
ISBN 0 473 09760 5
by kind permission of the
New Zealand
Plant Protection Society
Publication or other use of images or
descriptive text on these pages is unauthorised unless
written permission is obtained from the authors and
publisher.
Appropriate acknowledgement of the publication Common
Weeds of New Zealand must always be given.
Small
to medium, hardy, fast-growing, evergreen,
round-headed tree up to 10 m tall, sometimes a dense
shrub. Leaves oval-shaped, glossy on the upper
surface. Flowers white, very sweet-smelling.
- Flowers
White, about 6 mm in diameter, with four
sharply bent back lobes at the end of the corolla
tube, and yellow anthers. Flowers strongly-scented, in
broadly pyramid-shaped panicles 25 x 20 cm. Flowers
Nov-Mar.
- Fruit
Elliptical-oblong berry-like drupes, 6 x 5
mm, bluish or purplish-black, coated with powdery
bloom.
- Leaves
Dark green, large, glossy on the upper
surface, oval to elliptical, 5-13 cm long by 3-6 cm
wide. Leaf stalks 1-2 cm long.
- Stems
Hairless shoots.
Habitat
Gardens,
forest margins, coastal cliffs and waste places.
Distribution
NI only,
common in North Auckland, Auckland and coastal Bay of
Plenty. Originally from China.
Comments
Leaves and
fruit poisonous. Widely
believed to contribute to allergies and asthma,
although since the plant is insect-pollinated, it does
not produce any wind-blown pollen. Commonly used as an
urban hedge plant in warmer parts of the country.
Listed on the National
Pest Plant Accord (see Introduction for
details).
Derivation
of botanical name
Ligustrum
(Lat.) = privet; lucidum (Lat.) = shining,
referring to the glossy leaves.
Web-notes:
Weed Links
On this site
Reproduced from Common Weeds
of New Zealand:
External Links
 Weedbusters
New Zealand
- Weedbusters is a weeds awareness and education programme that aims to
protect New Zealand's environment from the increasing weed problem.
- AgPest
- A free tool to assist farmers and agricultural professionals in decision-making regarding weed and pest identification, biology, impact and management.
 New Zealand Weeds Key
- An interactive identification key to the weeds of New Zealand. Developed at Landcare Research.
New
Zealand Plant Conservation Network naturalised plants
- Search for information on more than 2500 naturalised and weedy plants.
 New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
- Their main objective: "To pool and exchange information on the biology
of weeds, invertebrate and vertebrate pests, pathogens and beneficial organisms
and methods for modifying their effects."
-
 Massey
University Weeds Database- A site providing information about New Zealand weeds and weed control.
It has a series of pages showing pictures of New Zealand weeds, notes on
identification and control. It also provides information on a university
paper entitled Controlling Weeds.
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