Ligustrum japonicum

The Japanese privet tree is in the olive or Oleaceae family, native to central and southern Japan (Honshū, Shikoku, Kyūshū, Okinawa) and Korea. It also is widely cultivated in parts of the US (California; Texas to Virginia).

The species is closely related to the Chinese Ligustrum lucidum, differing in its smaller size, and elongated oval (not subglobose) fruit.

• It is an evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 2–5 m tall, with smooth, pale grey-brown bark on the stems.
• Leaves are opposite, 5–10 cm long and 2–5 cm broad, glossy dark green above, paler glaucous to yellowish green below, thick and leathery textured, and with an entire margin.
• Flowers are white, with a four-lobed corolla 5–6 mm long; they are borne in clusters 7–15 cm long in early summer.
• Fruit is an oval drupe, 10 mm long, ripening purple-black with a glaucous waxy bloom in early winter; in Japan they are popularly likened to mouse or rat droppings.