XLVIII. OLEA'CE^E : ZIGU'STRUM. 



629 



& i 1. L. VULGA X RE Trag. The common Privet. 



Identification. Trag. Hist., 1005. ; Lin. Sp., 1. p. 10. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. 44. 



Synunymes. L. germanicum Bauh. Hist. 475. ; Prini, or Prim-print ; Troene, Puine blanc, Fr. ; 

 gemeine Rainweide, Ger. ; Ligustro Olivella, Itnl. 



Derivation. This plant was anciently called prim, or prim-print, from its being used for verdant 

 sculptures, or topiary work, and for primly cut hedges. Puiae blanc seems to imply a "little 

 white shrub," from the whiteness of the blossom of the privet ; which is alluded to by Virgil and 

 other poets, but which soon vanishes, and changes to brown, when exposed to the direct influence 

 of the sun. The German name is combined of rain, green, and weide, a willow ; alluding to its 

 being supple like the willow, and nearly evergreen. Oliveila seems to signify the little olive. The 

 common English name of Privet may have been given to it from its being frequently planted in 

 gardens to conceal privies. 



Engravings. Engl. Bot., t. 7G4. ; Baxt. Brit. Fl. PI., vol. 2. t. 119. ; and our figs. 1217. and 1218. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, glabrous. Racemes compound, 

 coarctate. The flowers are sweet-scented, white at first, but soon change 

 to a reddish brown. Berries dark purple, almost black. (Don's Mill.) 

 A sub-evergreen shrub. Britain, in hedges and woody wastes. Height 6ft. 

 to 10ft. Flowers white; June and July. Berries 

 dark purple ; ripe in November, remaining on all the 

 winter. 



1217. L. vulgare. 



1218. L. vulgare. 



1219. L. \. scmtiervlreus 



Varieties. 



3fe L. v. 2 leucocdrpum. Berries white. 



& L. v. 3 xanthoc&rpum. Berries yellow. 



3fe L. v. 4> chlorocarpum. Berries green. 



1 & L. v. 5 sempervirens. L. italicum Mill., and our 



fig. 1219. ; the Italian, or evergreen, Privet. 



'This is a most desirable variety for shrubberies ; 



and it is so distinct, -that it was considered by 



Miller as a.jspecies. 

 & L. v. 6 variegdtum. Leaves variegated with 



yellow. 

 3fe L. v. 7 angustifolmm. Leaves narrow. 



The leaves, in exposed situations, and on poor soils, are deciduous ; but in 

 sheltered situations, and more especially when the plant is cultivated in gardens, 

 they remain on throughout the winter. From its property of growing under the 

 drip of trees, it forms a good sub-evergreen undergrowth, where the box, the 

 holly, or the common laurel, would be too expensive, or too tedious of growth. 

 The privet has been long used in the court-yards of dwelling-houses, for con- 

 cealing naked walls, and preventing the eye from seeing objects or places which 

 it is considered desirable to conceal from the view. It thrives well in towns 

 where pit-coal is used ; and the best hedges surrounding the squares of Lon- 

 don are of this shrub. It is admirably adapted for topiary work, and in Italian 

 gardens, in a British climatCj it forms as good a substitute for the olive, as the 

 common laurel does for the orange. The privet grows best in rather a strong 

 loam, somewhat moist ; and it attains the largest size in an open situation ; 

 but it will grow on any soil, and under the shade and drip of deciduous trees. 

 In British nurseries, it is almost always raised by cuttings, which not only pro- 

 duce larger plants of the species in a shorter period, but continue the varieties 

 with greater certainty. When plants are to be raised from seed, the berries 



s s 3 



