0589 



PRIVET. 



Family: JASMINE FAMILY. [Translator's note: now in family Oleaceae.] 

 Reproductive system: DlANDRY, MONOGYNY. 



The common privet, Ligustrum vulgar % Linn., is a bushy shrub that grows 

 six to eight feet high. The bark on its stem is ash-colored. The leaves are opposite, oval- 

 lanceolate, entire, glabrous, smooth, and suspended on short petioles. The white flowers 

 are positioned at the ends of the branches in paniculate clusters. The calyx is entire, with 

 four small teeth. The corolla is monopetalous, with four lobes that have a short limb. Two 

 stamens are inserted at the base of the corolla. The ovary is free and surmounted with a 

 style and a thick, bifid stigma. It turns into a berry with two compartments that have two 

 or four seeds. 



FLOWERS: in June and July. 



RANGE: France and Europe. 



NOMENCLATURE. According to Vossius [Translator's note: probably Gerhard 

 Vossius, 1577-1649, professor of Greek and philosophy in Holland and a writer on 

 natural history], Ligustrum is derived from ligare, to bind up, because its long and supple 

 branches are used for this purpose. German, liguster, rainweide. Dutch, rynwilg. English, 

 privet, prim. Italian, rovistico. Spanish, alhena. Russian, schost. Polish, ptasza zob. 

 Hungarian, fagyal-fa. Colloquial French, fresillon, trufjler. 



USES. This shrub is used to form hedges. Mixed with hawthorn and hornbeam, it 

 intertwines with them and fulfils its purpose well. Its beautiful white flowers make an 

 attractive sight in groves of greenery. The leaves fall off only after the first frost. 



The fruit turns black when it ripens. Thrushes and blackbirds relish them. A 

 bluish pigment, not especially valued, is prepared from it in the north as well as in Paris. 

 Wine merchants use it to add color to wines that are pale and weakly colored. 



