Invasiveness Assessment - Japanese privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) in Victoria
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Plant invasiveness is determined by evaluating a plant’s biological and ecological characteristics against criteria that encompass establishment requirements, growth rate and competitive ability, methods of reproduction, and dispersal mechanisms.
| Each characteristic, or criterion, is assessed against a list of intensity ratings. Depending upon information found, a rating of Low, Medium Low, Medium High or High is assigned to that criterion. Where no data is available to answer a criterion, a rating of medium (M) is applied. A description of the invasiveness criteria and intensity ratings used in this process can be viewed here. |
The following table provides information on the invasiveness of Japanese privet.
A more detailed description of the methodology of the Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method can be viewed below:
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (PDF - 630 KB)
Victorian Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) method (DOC - 1 MB)
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Common Name: Japanese privet
Scientific name: Ligustrum ovalifolium
| Question | Comments | Rating | Confidence |
| Establishment | |||
| Germination requirements? | The species is not reported to have any additional requirements for propagation and other similar Ligustrum sp. have been found to germinate on a seasonal basis (Blood 2001; Burrows & Kohen 1983; PFAF 2007). The species is therefore considered to be capable of germinating on a seasonal basis. | MH | MH |
| Establishment requirements? | In cultivation the species is reported to be able to grow in full sun and full shade and is also reported to invade areas of moderate canopy cover i.e. forest and open areas i.e. roadsides and waste places (PFAF 2007; Webb, Sykes & Garnock-Jones 1988). Therefore the species is presumed capable of establishing under moderate canopy cover. | MH | MH |
| How much disturbance is required? | Reported to invade forest and riparian habitat (Henderson 1995). The species is therefore capable of establishing in minor disturbed environments. | MH | MH |
| Growth/Competitive | |||
| Life form? | Other; the species is a large shrub (Webb, Sykes & Garnock-Jones 1988). | L | MH |
| Allelopathic properties? | A similar species, L. lucidum is suspected of having allelopathic properties (Blood 2001). | M | L |
| Tolerates herb pressure? | Used for ornamental hedging the species can tolerate heavy trimming (PFAF 2007). The leaves of the species are reported to be toxic (Shepherd 2004). The species is therefore thought not to be a preferred browse species and if it is browsed capable of recovering quickly. | MH | MH |
| Normal growth rate? | The is conflicting data on the species growth rate, it is reported to be fairly slow growing and moderately fast growing (PFAF 2007). | M | L |
| Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc? | The species shows some salt tolerance, under extreme conditions however, plants can be killed (Wester & Cohen 1968). Reported to be moderately frost hardy (Schulteis & Santarius 1989). The species has some drought tolerance (PFAF 2007). | MH | MH |
| Reproduction | |||
| Reproductive system | The species reproduces sexually producing seed (Webb, Sykes & Garnock-Jones 1988). | ML | MH |
| Number of propagules produced? | Unknown; other Ligustrum sp. have been reported to produce more than 2000 propagules per season. | M | L |
| Propagule longevity? | Unknown; the seeds of other Ligustrum sp. have been reported to remain viable for less than five years. | M | L |
| Reproductive period? | Unknown; other Ligustrum sp. have been reported have been reported to live for more than 100 years. | M | L |
| Time to reproductive maturity? | Unknown; other Ligustrum sp. have been reported to take four years before flowering. | M | L |
| Dispersal | |||
| Number of mechanisms? | The species produces small purple black fruits (Webb, Sykes & Garnock-Jones 1988). Like other Ligustrum sp. these fruits are thought to be dispersed by a range of birds (Blood 2001; Muyt 2001). | H | M |
| How far do they disperse? | Unknown; The seeds of other Ligustrum sp. however have been reported to be dispersed by currawongs which have a dispersal range in excess of 1 km (Bass 1996; Panetta 2000; Spennemann & Allen 2000). | H | M |
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