Ligustrum robustum


Ligustrum robustum grows as a shrub or small tree up to tall though old specimens of more than a hundred years have been observed with a height of. The fruit of the shrub is an ellipsoid berry, bluish-purple when fully ripe, × .
The shrub is native to South and Southeast Asia but has become naturalized in other countries. It was introduced to Mauritius at the end of the 19th century and to La Réunion, where it has become a major invasive species. The Flora of China lists a "Ligustrum ''robustum subsp. chinense P. S. Green" as native to China, but more recent publications have regarded that name as a synonym of L. expansum.
Ligustrum robustum was nominated among 100 of the "World's Worst" invasive species. A moth, and two coleoptera are being tested for biological control programs in La Réunion but have not yet been released. Other lepidoptera that feed on this plant are Brahmaea wallichii, Pangrapta grisangula and Dolbina inexacta''.

Etymology

Ligustrum means ‘binder’. It was named by Pliny and Virgil.