Ligustrum robustum
Ligustrum robustum in the foreground
Scientific classification Edit this 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.

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]

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]

See also

  • Kuding, a tisane made from its leaves

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ligustrum robustum.
  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. 1 2 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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