Greening - Tree Labels with QR Codes (146)

Chinese Privet, Small-leaf Privet

Scientific Name : Ligustrum sinense Lour.
Common Name : Chinese Privet, Small-leaf Privet
Chinese Name : 山指甲，小蠟樹
Family : OLEACEAE
Local distribution status : Exotic species

Anecdotes on plants

Origins	The provinces of South-Central, Southeast and North-Central China, Tibet, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Ecology	In Hong Kong, Chinese Privet is usually found along thickets, roadsides and outskirts. It helps constitute the local biodiversity by providing abundant fragrant flowers and succulent fruits that are appealing to urban animals.
Vitality	Chinese Privet acclimatises to multiple environments, even when there is shady, drought, poor drainage or barren.
Application	The bark and leaves are primary ingredients of the traditional Chinese medicines for promoting diuresis and relieving heat and swelling. In addition, Chinese Privet is a rather versatile greening component in parks and roadsides. Other than planting in solitary, the tree is fast-growing and malleable, thereby always shaped into multiform hedges and topiaries. Proper pruning remains critical to maintain a decent shape.
Meanings of name	The specific epithet sinense refers to its origin from China. The common name ‘Small-leaf Privet’ highlights its rather smaller leaf than Ligustrum lucidum (Broad-leaf Privet).

Traits for identification

Growing habit	Deciduous shrub or small tree.
Height	To 7 m.
Stem	Deciduous shrub or small tree. Bark greyish white, smooth. Branchlets terete, villous to glabrescent.
Leaves	Simple leaves opposite. Blade papery to thinly leathery, shapes highly variable, ovate to lanceolate, base broadly cuneate to subrounded, apex acute to obtuse, lateral veins 4–8, impressed adaxially, midvein slightly villous or puberulous.
Flowers	Hermaphroditic. Panicles terminal or axillary, peduncle first yellowish puberulent glabrescent.
Fruits	Drupes subglobose, turning green to dark purple when mature.
Flowering period	March to June in Hong Kong.
Fruiting period	September to December in Hong Kong.

Overview of <em>Ligustrum sinense</em> Lour.

Trunk of <em>Ligustrum sinense</em> Lour.

Bark greyish white, smooth.

Simple leaves opposite. Blade papery to thinly leathery.

Flowers small, fragrant, calyx campanulate, corolla white, stamens exerted.

Flowers small, fragrant, calyx campanulate, corolla white, stamens exerted.

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Remarks

Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website :
https://herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=6352

Scientific names from other databases :
― Flora of China : Ligustrum sinense Loureiro
― Plants of the World Online : Ligustrum sinense Lour.

Reference

Hong Kong Herbarium, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (2007-2011). Ligustrum sinense Lour. 山指甲. Flora of Hong Kong. [Online Edition]. Retrieved 17^th March 2022, from https://www.herbarium.gov.hk/en/home/index.html
eFloras. (2008). Ligustrum sinense Loureiro. Flora of China [Online Edition]. Missouri Botanical Garden, St.Louis, MO and Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. Retrieved 17^th March 2022, from: http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200017798
Grove, E., and Clarkson, B. D. (2005). An ecological study of Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense Lour.) in the Waikato Region.
New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. (2022). Ligustrum sinense. Wildlands [Online Edition]. Retrieved 17^th March 2022, from https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/ligustrum-sinense/
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (2017). Ligustrum sinense Lour. Plant of the World Online. [Online Edition]. Retrieved 18^th March 2022, from: https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:610100-1
School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University and Hong Kong Baptist University Library. (2012). Xiaolashu小蠟樹. Medicinal Plant Images Database. Retrieved 17^th March 2022, from https://libproject.hkbu.edu.hk/was40/detail?lang=ch&record=1&channelid=1288&searchword=%28%E5%B0%8F%E8%9C%A1%29&extension=all
Webb, C. J., Sykes, W. R., and Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988). Flora of New Zealand, vol IV, Naturalised, pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. DISR Botany Division, Christchurch. ISBN0-477-02529-3.
Wilcox, J., and Beck, C. W. (2007). Effects of Ligustrum sinense Lour.(Chinese privet) on abundance and diversity of songbirds and native plants in a southeastern nature preserve. Southeastern Naturalist, 6(3), 535-550.
中國科學院植物誌編輯委員會。（1959-2004）。〈小蜡Ligustrim sinense Lour.〉。《中國植物誌》。[網上版本]。於2022年3月17日擷取自：http://www.iplant.cn/info/Ligustrum%20sinense?t=z
中國科學院華南植物園。（2010）。《東莞植物誌》。華中科學大學出版社。國際標準書號：978-7-5609-5860-6。
周雲龍。(2014)。《華南常見園林植物圖鑑》。高等教育出版社。國際標準書號：978-7-0403-9632-4。
胡秀英植物標本館。（2020）。〈Ligustrum sinense Lour. 山指甲，Pro-Factsheet，Taxonomical Archive System〉。《伍絜宜慈善基金香港原生植物資源及教材庫》。於2022年3月17日擷取自：http://syhuherbarium.sls.cuhk.edu.hk/collections/factsheet/ligustrum-sinense/
歐陽卓立。（2018）。《香港觀賞樹木彙編3》。自然探索學會。國際標準書號：978-9-8815-4686-9。