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National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Chinese Privet

Scientific Name

Ligustrum sinense Lour. (ITIS)

Common Name

Chinese privet, small-leaf privet, Chinese ligustrum

Synonym

Ligustrum villosum

Native To

Asia (Smith et al.)

Date of U.S. Introduction

1800s (Smith et al.)

Means of Introduction

Introduced as an ornamental (Smith et al.)

Impact

Forms dense thickets that displace native species (Smith et al.)

Current U.S. Distribution

Southern and Eastern U.S.

Chinese privet
Image use policy

Chinese privet, flowers; inflorenscense with unopened buds

Credit

Photo by Karen Brown; University of Georgia

Source
Invasive.org.

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Spotlights

  • Chinese Privet, Arthropods, and Bees

    • Apr 8, 2021

    • USDA. FS. Southern Research Station. CompassLive.

    • Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) is one of the worst invasive plants in the South. It dominates the shrub layer and often becomes the only shrub underneath trees, especially in streamside areas. But insects and spiders living in fallen leaves and leaf litter were not affected by a privet invasion in Georgia, as a recent study shows.

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Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source.

Council or Task Force
Partnership
Federal Government
International Government
State and Local Government
Academic
Professional
Citations