Amur Privet
Amur Privet
Ligustrum x amurenseb>
Oleaceae (Olive Family)
privet hedge ▲
leaves, twigs ▲ ▼
variegated amur privet ▲ ▼
variegated amur privet ▲ ▼
Ornamental shrub with variegated leaves ▲
Ligustrum amurense: Amur Privet
Amur Privet is an introduced ornamental shrub commonly planted in midwest landscapes that has escaped to invade open woods, roadsides, pastures, urban areas, and can form dense thickets where allowed to spread.
Location near campus: in a number of old hedges in Phelps Grove neighborhood in the few blocks just south of campus
- leaves deciduous, opposite, simple, oblong with entire margin; 1-2" long and 1/3 as wide; dark green above, glabrous, sometimes glossy; leaf undersides dull green
- stems purplish and pubescent on new growth, gray and glabrous when older
- flowers small and white and not too showy and perhaps malodorous; fruit is a black drupe
- grows 15' tall and 2/3 as wide, as an upright shrub
- prefers full sun to shade; tolerates all but very wet soils; very adaptable
- often selected as a hedge plant, but due to fast growth rate, is a high maintenance plant-- also if often mis-pruned, causing basal thinning of leaves and a not-too-attractive hedge
- has escaped cultivation in a number of areas and can be a woodland weed
- fast growth rate