| Ligustrum robustum | |
|---|---|
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| Ligustrum robustum in the foreground | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Oleaceae |
| Genus: | Ligustrum |
| Species: |
L. robustum
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| Binomial name | |
| Ligustrum robustum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Ligustrum robustum grows as a shrub or small tree up to 10 m (30 ft) tall though old specimens of more than a hundred years have been observed with a height of 15 m (50 ft). The fruit of the shrub is an ellipsoid berry, bluish-purple when fully ripe, 7–10 mm (0.28–0.39 in) × 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in).[2][3][4]
The shrub is native to South and Southeast Asia (Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam) but has become naturalized in other countries.[5] It was introduced to Mauritius at the end of the 19th century and to La Réunion, where it has become a major invasive species.[6] The Flora of China lists a "Ligustrum robustum subsp. chinense P. S. Green" as native to China,[7] but more recent publications have regarded that name as a synonym of L. expansum.[8]
Ligustrum robustum was nominated among 100 of the "World's Worst" invasive species. A moth (Epiplema albida), and two coleoptera (Dermorhytis ornatissima and Dermorhytis lewisi) are being tested for biological control programs in La Réunion but have not yet been released.[6] Other lepidoptera that feed on this plant are Brahmaea wallichii, Pangrapta grisangula[9] and Dolbina inexacta.
Ligustrum means ‘binder’. It was named by Pliny and Virgil.[10]
| Ligustrum robustum |
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| Phillyrea robusta |
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