# Glossy privet (Ligustrum lucidum)

> A fast evergreen shrub or small tree (25-40 feet) with glossy dark leaves, panicles of heavy-scented cream flowers in late spring and masses of blue-black berries that birds carry into every greenbelt and creek bottom in Austin, where it forms dense evergreen thickets that shade out everything beneath. Leaves and berries are poisonous, and the flowers' smell and pollen bother many people.

Source: https://treerm.org/trees/ligustrum-lucidum · Updated 2026-11-08 · License CC BY 4.0

## Facts

- Also called: Tree privet, Waxleaf ligustrum (misapplied), Ligustrum
- Family: Oleaceae
- Type: Broadleaf evergreen
- Mature height: 10 m; spread 8 m
- Growth: Fast growing
- USDA hardiness zones: 7 to 10
- Light: Sun or part shade
- Water: Low water
- Soil: Any well-drained soil; tolerates alkaline, dry and occasionally wet sites
- Native range: China, Japan and Korea; introduced as a hedge and street tree and naturalized across the southern US

**Benefits:** Birds

**Watch out for:** Invasive elsewhere, Toxic parts, Allergenic pollen, Messy fruit

## Care

Do not plant; it is one of the most common woody invaders of Central Texas natural areas. Remove existing plants by cutting and treating stumps with herbicide (they resprout), and pull seedlings while small. If you keep a hedge, shear off flowers before berries form. Native evergreen replacements include yaupon holly, Texas mountain laurel and evergreen sumac.

## Where it stands

- **Native:** China (Native to China, Japan and Korea)
- **Invasive:** United States (Texas Invasives reports it present in AL, FL, GA, LA, MD, MS, NC and TX); NC, United States (Listed as invasive by the NC Invasive Plant Council (per NC State Extension Plant Toolbox)); TX, United States (Listed in the Texas Invasives (texasinvasives.org) plant database. Has the potential to replace mid-canopy trees and dominate forest areas; spreads by bird-dispersed seed and root sprouts. Not on the TDA noxious list.)

## Sources

- https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/LILU2
- https://www.texasinvasives.org/plant_database/detail.php?symbol=LILU2
- https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/ligustrum-lucidum/