Ligustrum obtusifolium
(border privet)

Preferred Common Name

• border privet

Other Scientific Names

• Ligustrum amurense Carrière
• Ligustrum ciliatum var. spathulatum Blume
• Ligustrum ibota f. angustifolium (Blume) Nakai
• Ligustrum ibota f. obtusifolium (Siebold & Zucc.) Koidz.
• Ligustrum ibota f. tschonoskii (Nakai) Nakai
• Ligustrum ibota var. amurense (Carrière) Mansf.
• Ligustrum ibota var. angustifolium Blume
• Ligustrum ibota var. diabolicum Koidz.
• Ligustrum ibota var. obovatum Blume
• Ligustrum ibota var. obtusifolium (Siebold & Zucc.) Koidz.
• Ligustrum ibota var. regelianum (Koehne) Siebold ex Beissn., Schelle & Zabel
• Ligustrum ibota var. suave Kitag.
• Ligustrum ibota var. tschonoskii Nakai
• Ligustrum ibota var. velutinum Blume
• Ligustrum obtusifolium f. leiocalyx (Nakai) Murata
• Ligustrum obtusifolium f. velutinum (Blume) Murata
• Ligustrum obtusifolium subsp. suave (Kitag.) Kitag.
• Ligustrum obtusifolium var. amurense (Carrière) Mansf.
• Ligustrum obtusifolium var. leiocalyx (Nakai) H.Hara
• Ligustrum obtusifolium var. regelianum (Koehne) Rehder
• Ligustrum obtusifolium var. rubescens Nakai
• Ligustrum obtusifolium var. velutinum (Blume) H.Hara
• Ligustrum regelianum Koehne
• Ligustrum suave (Kitag.) Kitag.
• Ligustrum tschonoskii var. leiocalyx Nakai

International Common Names

• English: amur privet; blunt-leaved privet; japanese deciduous privet; obtuse-leaved privet; regal privet
• French: troène à feuilles obtuses; troène obtusifolium

Local Common Names

• China: dong ya nu zhen; liao dong shui la shu
• Germany: liguster; stumpfblättriger
• Japan: ibota-no-ki

EPPO code

• LIGOB (Ligustrum obtusifolium)

• Domain: Eukaryota
•     Kingdom: Plantae
•         Phylum: Spermatophyta
•             Subphylum: Angiospermae
•                 Class: Dicotyledonae
•                     Order: Oleales
•                         Family: Oleaceae
•                             Genus: Ligustrum
•                                 Species: Ligustrum obtusifolium

L. obtusifolium Siebold & Zucc. (1846) is the accepted name for the species. L. obtusifolium is one of 45 species in the genus LigustrumL. (1753) (Flora of China Editorial Comittee, 2014). It is a member of the family Oleaceae which includes 787 species of woody plants.

The variability of the pubescence (pubescent to glabrous) of the branchlets has, in part, led to 30 different synonyms (Nesom, 2009; The Plant List, 2013; USDA-ARS, 2014) and taxonomic conflation and naming confusion with L. ibota. The genus Ligustrum has been the subject of repeated reviews in the past (Green, 1990; Green, 1995) and the current opinion is that the distinctions between species in Ligustrum are small.

L. obtusifolium has one accepted form, L. obtusifolium subsp. microphyllum (Nakai) P.S.Green.

In many case the name L. obtusifolium subsp. obtusifolium refers to the indigenous species found in Japan. L. obtusifolium subsp. suave is often used to refer to L. obtusifoium found in China, Korea and the Amur region of Russia (Nesom, 2009).

Ligustrum, from the latin word ligo, means to bind and its slender and flexible twigs having been used as bands or bindings. Ligustrum is also the classical Latin name for Privets. Obtusifolium is derived from the Latin obtusus meaning ‘blunt’ and folium meaning ‘leaf’. 

Deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub that grows from 8-20 ft. tall. Leaves: opposite, simple, entire, short-stalked, ranging in length from 2.54-7.6 cm and varying in shape from oval, elliptic to oblong. Shrubs 0.5-3 m, deciduous and many branched. Branchlets minutely pilose to pubescent or puberulent. Petiole 1-2 mm, glabrous or pubescent; leaf blade oblong, oblong-lanceolate, elliptic, ovate to long obovate-elliptic, or oblanceolate, 0.8-6 × 0.4-2.5 cm, papery, scattered pilose to glabrous or sparsely pubescent, base cuneate or broadly so, apex acute or obtuse, mucronulate, sometimes slightly retuse; primary veins 3-5(-7) on each side of midrib, often obscure or abaxially slightly raised. Panicles terminal, 1.5-4 × 1.5-3 cm, densely flowered. Pedicel 0-2 mm, puberulent, pubescent or glabrous. Calyx 1-2 mm, puberulent, pubescent, or glabrous. Corolla 5-10 mm; tube 1.5-2.5 × as long as lobes. Stamens reaching about middle of corolla lobes; anthers lanceolate, 2-3 mm. Fruit purple-black, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, 5-8 × 4-6 mm. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Aug-Oct (Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2014).

L. obtusifolium was introduced into the USA as early as 1860 (Maddox et al., 2010) and has currently naturalized in at least 20 states (USDA-NRCS, 2014).

L. obtusifolium is reportedly found in the Amur river area of the Russian Far East and was sent to St. Petersburg, Russia and thence to Paris, France (Faxon, 1903).

Soil drainage

• free

Soil reaction

• neutral

Soil texture

• heavy
• light
• medium

Vector Transmission

The fruits of L. obtusifolium are dispersed by birds (Serviss, 2014). Swearingen et al. (2010) reports that birds and other animals can excrete the seeds undamaged where they can germinate to produce new plants. It has been suggested that the berries the berries are eaten to a limited extent by the eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis), the American tree sparrow (Spizella arborea) and the cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) (Martin et al., 1951; Hilty, 2014).

Intentional Introduction

L. obtusifolium has been intentionally introduced to a number of countries around the word as an ornamental plant (Maddox et al., 2010).

L. obtusifolium can form dense thickets which can alter habitats and enable establishment of new stands (Swearingen et al., 2010). These thickets can outcompete and inhibit indigenous species in North America decreasing biodiversity (Swearingen et al., 2010).

All parts of L. obtusifolium are toxic to humans causing nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain (Wagstaff, 2008). It is also toxic towards a number of mammalian herbivores including horses.

• Proved invasive outside its native range
• Has a broad native range
• Abundant in its native range
• Highly adaptable to different environments
• Is a habitat generalist
• Tolerates, or benefits from, cultivation, browsing pressure, mutilation, fire etc
• Pioneering in disturbed areas
• Tolerant of shade
• Benefits from human association (i.e. it is a human commensal)
• Fast growing
• Has high reproductive potential
• Has propagules that can remain viable for more than one year
• Reproduces asexually

• Altered trophic level
• Damaged ecosystem services
• Ecosystem change/ habitat alteration
• Modification of natural benthic communities
• Modification of successional patterns
• Monoculture formation
• Reduced amenity values
• Reduced native biodiversity
• Threat to/ loss of native species

• Competition - shading
• Hybridization
• Interaction with other invasive species
• Rapid growth

• Difficult to identify/detect in the field
• Difficult/costly to control

Economic Value

L. obtusifolium is widely sold in the landscape industry as an inexpensive, cold-hardy hedge species that withstands heavy trimming and shaping. For example, L. obtusifolium was suggested for highway landscape plantings in New York State (Francis, 1919).