Ligustrum robustum

Ligustrum robustum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Oleaceae
Tribe:	Oleeae
Genus:	Ligustrum
Species:	L. robustum
Binomial name
Ligustrum robustum (Roxb.) Blume
Synonyms[1]
Phillyrea robusta Roxb. Ligustrum ceylanicum Decne., 1879 Ligustrum neilgherrence Decne., 1879 Ligustrum robustum Sensu Thw., 1872 Ligustrum walkeri Decne., 1879 Olea robusta (Roxb.) Sweet Visiania robusta (Roxb.) DC.

Ligustrum robustum grows as a shrub or small tree up to 10 m (30 ft) tall though old specimen of more than hundred years have been observed with a height of 15 m (50 ft). The fruit is an ellipsoid berry, bluish-purple, 7–10 mm (0.28–0.39 in) × 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in).^[2][3][4]

It is native to South and Southeast Asia (Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam) but had become naturalised in other countries.^[5] It was introduced to Mauritius in the end of the 19th century and to La Réunion, where it has become a mayor 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 lewis) are tested for biological control programs in La Réunion but had not yet been released.^[6] Other lepidoptera that feed on this plant are Brahmaea wallichii, Pangrapta grisangula^[9] and Dolbina inexacta.

References

1. Tropicos
2. Plantwise Knowledge Bank datasheet
3. Carl Ludwig von Blume. 1850. Museum Botanicum Lugduno-Batavum sive stirpium Exoticarum, Novarum vel Minus Cognitarum ex Vivis aut Siccis Brevis Expositio et Descriptio. Leiden 1: 313, Ligustrum robustum
4. Roxburgh, William. 1820. Flora Indica; or descriptions of Indian Plants 1: 101–102, Phillyrea robusta
5. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Ligustrum robustum
6. T. Le Bourgeois , V. Blanfort, S. Baret , C. Lavergne , Y. Soubeyran and J.Y. Meyer. 2008. Opportunities for classical biological control of weeds in European overseas territories. International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds
7. Flora of China, v 15 p 302, Ligustrum robustum subsp. chinense
8. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Ligustrum robustum subsp. chinense
9. Caterpillar host plant database