Wild Privet
Wild Privet flower spike
4-petalled flowers, anthers
Flowers from top of corolla - stamens
Corollas from side
Unripe fruits
Ripe fruits
Leaves, smooth bark
Ligustrum vulgare
Oleaceae
Common Privet
June to July
It is found throughout the country.
See the BSBI distribution map for Wild Privet
It grows in hedgerows, woodland and scrub.
It can also be a garden escape and a relic plant.
Wild Privet is a native, semi-evergreen shrub growing
up to 5m.
Creamy, white flowers are in panicles (spikes) up
to 6cm.
The corolla is funnel-shaped and the divided part of the
corolla is either shorter or the same length as the limb.
The cream, and later brown, anthers overtop the 4
turned-back divided part of the flower.
The flowers are sweet smelling.
Fruits are black and oily when ripe.
Leaves are slightly leathery, lanceolate and rounded
at the ends,with short petioles (stalks).
Garden Privet, L. ovalifolium, has wider, more oval leaves,
and the divided part of the flower is 2-3 x longer than the
tubular part.
The anthers do not overtop the corolla.
Garden Privet can occur as a naturalised escape, when
it is usually a garden escape or a relic of cultivation.
Previous page: Wild Parsnip
Next page: Wood Dock
Wild Privet flower spike
4-petalled flowers, anthers
Flowers from top of corolla - stamens
Corollas from side
Unripe fruits
Ripe fruits
Leaves, smooth bark
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