LIGUSTRUM 27 



dark green above ; stalk $ to in. long. Flowers white, produced during 

 August and September in erect terminal panicles 6 to 8 ins. high and 

 nearly as much wide. Fruit oblong, A- to ^ in. long, blue-black ; not 

 frequently produced with us. 



Native of China ; introduced in 1794. Of the truly evergreen privets, 

 this is the handsomest and best. A well-grown plant with the large lustrous 

 leaves and a crowd of erect panicles is one of the most striking of autumn 

 garden pictures. According to Henry, this privet is 20 to 30 ft. high, 

 and the commonest evergreen tree in some parts of Hupeh, China. Wilson, 

 in the Min River Valley, found one example 60 ft. high and 10 ft. in girth. 

 I have seen it as a tree in the Dalmatian towns there is one in the public 

 park at Spalato 35 ft. high. In China it possesses some economic importance 

 in being the tree on which the "white-wax" insect deposits its eggs. It 

 is sometimes confused with L. japonicum (g.v.). 



Var. ALIVONI. Leaves longer, narrower, thinner, and less glossy, often 

 variegated ; they are 3 to 7 ins. long, and I to 2 ins. wide ; young twigs 

 minutely downy ; fruit black, rounded at the top. It is not so handsome 

 as L. lucidum, and is perhaps a distinct species. 



Var. AUREO - VARIEGATUM. Leaves variegated with dull yellow ; 

 ineffective. 



Var. TRICOLOR. A tender form which needs the protection of a wall. 

 Leaves with a broad but irregular border of white, pinkish when young. 

 Very striking when well grown. 



L. OVALIFOLIUM, Hasskarl. OVAL-LEAVED PRIVET. 



A semi -evergreen or, in severe winters or in poor soil, a deciduous shrub 

 10 to 15 ft. high, of vigorous growth, forming a dense thicket of erect stems ; 

 young shoots usually quite smooth. Leaves I to 2^ ins. long, ^ to ij ins. 

 wide ; oval, wedge-shaped at the base, blunt or painted at the apex, glossy 

 green and smooth on both surfaces ; stalk \ in. long. Flowers produced 

 during July in a stiff, erect, terminal panicle, 2 to 4 ins. high and about 

 the same wide ; they are very crowded in the panicle, dull white, and have 

 a heavy, unpleasant odour. Corolla \ in. long. Fruit globose, shining, 

 black. Calyx and individual flower-stalk smooth. 



Native of Japan. The oval-leaved privet is a worthy associate of the 

 common one for dark corners or places starved by roots of trees where 

 scarcely anything else will grow. For hedges it is preferable to the common 

 privet because of its more evergreen nature ; it has, in fact, almost entirely 

 displaced it for that purpose. It is not worthy of being put to better use, 

 being of stiff, ungainly habit, its flowers dull, and to most people evil-smelling. 



Var. ARGENTEUM. Leaves bordered with creamy white. This pale 

 variegation is not as rich and effective as that of the following. 



Var. AUREUM. Golden Privet. Leaves green only in the centre, with a 

 border of varying width of rich golden yellow. This is the most popular 

 of all variegated shrubs, and has been propagated by hundreds of thousands 

 for town planting. Although it is the fashion to revile it, it certainly 

 produces a very bright effect and brings colour into many a hemmed-in 

 garden or dull city yard where little of any kind will grow. It is also useful 

 in a small state for town window-boxes. In habit it is less rigid and more 

 graceful than the type, and the young shoots, seen under the lens, are 

 thickly but very minutely downy. 



L. PRATTII, Koehne. PRATT'S PRIVET. 



An evergreen shrub of neat bushy habit, the young shoots, densely clothed 

 with short down. Leaves oval or ovate, \ to i in. long, to f in. wide ; 



