Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Tribe: Oleeae
Genus: Ligustrum
Species: L. japonicum
Binomial name: Ligustrum japonicum
Common names: Japanese privet, Wax-leaf privet, Curlyleaf ligustrum
Ligustrum japonicum is a tree native to central and southern Japan and Korea. It is widely cultivated around the world.
It is an evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 2–6 m tall, with smooth, pale grey-brown bark on the stems. The trunks usually have multiple stems with many long, branches.
The leaves are opposite, 5–10 cm long and 2–5 cm broad, glossy, dark green above, paler glaucous to yellowish green below, thick and leathery textured, and with an entire margin that are often slightly rolled. The leaf’s apex is pointed.
The flowers are white, with a four-lobed corolla 5–6 mm long; they are borne in abundant clusters (7–15 cm long) at the end of the branches in spring to summer.
The fruit is a pale green, oval drupe, 10 mm long, ripening purple-black with a glaucous waxy bloom in early winter.
Warning: The leaves and the berries are poisonous if indigested due to the toxic glycosides of Ligustrin, Shikimic acid and others. The symptoms of ingestion are abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache, weakness, low blood pressure, cold and clammy skin possibly lasting 48 to 72 hours.
The unripe, green drupes
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
