LIGUSTHHM. [class U. OKDEK I. 



CLASS 11. 



DIAN'DRIA. 2 Stamens. 

 ORDER I. 



MONOGYN'IA. 1 Pistil. 



GENUS I. LIGUS'TRUM. Privel. ^ 



Nat. Ord. Ol'eacEjE. 



Gen. Char. Pcrianlh double, Cabjx inferior, of one leaf, with four 

 bluntish projecting teeth. Corolla of one petal, regular, in four 

 segments. Berry of two cells, with two seeds in each. Name 

 from ligo, to hind ; from its tough and pliant branches being used 

 in making bands. 



1. L. vulgar' e, (Fig. 4.) common Privet. Leaves elliptico-lanceolate, 

 flowers in dense panicles. 



English Botany, t. 764. — English Flora, vol. i. p. 13. — Liudley, 

 Synopsis, p. 171. — Hooker, British F'lora, vol. i. p. 4. 



Shrub six or eight feet high, with terminal panicles of odoriferous 

 white flowers. Bark smoothish, often sprinkled with numerous brown 

 oval spots (Lenticular (/lands), which indicate the point from whence 

 rootswould appear, if placed in a favourable situation for their production. 

 Wood tough and flexible. Leaven on short footstalks (petioles) \ arying 

 from long and narrow to nearly round, opposite and alternate. Calyx 

 and pedicle somewhat hairy, with short deciduous bractea. Corolla 

 white, incurved at the edges, longer than the calyx, turning brown before 

 falling. Stamens opposite, alternate with the segments of the corolla. 

 Style short. Berry blackish -purple or yellow, round and pulpy. 



Habitat. — Hedges and thickets in shady situations ; common. 



Perennial ; flowering in July and August. 



Privet. — Prim-privet is an ornamental and useful shrub. It is 

 often planted with advantage in Beech (Fayus Sylvatica) and Horn- 

 beam (Carpinus Betulus) hedges, in a stifl' clay soil ; in such situa- 

 tions it sometimes attairs the height of sixteen feet. In moist ground, 

 when partially shade', its long flexilile branches form an impenetrable 

 undergrowth, well adapted for covers in game preserves. Sec. The 

 berries are harmless, and are fed on by pheasants, partridges, and other 

 birds. It is remarkably patient of the shears, and is sometimes cut 

 into singularly fantastic forms; and is one of the few ])lants that will 

 grow under the shade and diip of trees, and coiiflned smoky situ- 

 ations, for which reason it is common e\ en in the close parts of large 



