Ligustrum lucidum

This is an evergreen tree that grows to a height of 5-8 m, although very occasionally it can reach 15 m. It sometimes branches from the base and forms a fairly compact leafy crown that is generally rounded in shape. The bark is greyish brown, smooth, or finely cracked in older specimens. The leaves are simple, opposite, 7-12 cm long and 3-6 cm wide, with an entire margin and a 1 cm-long stalk. They have a somewhat rigid, ovate, ovate-lanceolate or even elliptical blade, and an tip that terminates in a very defined point. They are shiny and dark green in colour on the upper side, and paler and matt on the underside. The leaves are reminiscent of those of the popular 'weeping fig' (Ficus benjamina), but the shape of the tree, the flowers, and fruit all differentiate these two species. The broad-leaf privet blooms form wide pyramidal clusters that stand upright at the ends of the branches. Its tiny flowers, typical of the olive family, have 4 white petals fused at the base into a very short tube, and give off a pleasant scent. The fruits are pea-sized berries that ripen in autumn and winter, when they develop a bluish-black colour, although they appear opaque or whitish due to the waxy coating surrounding them (bloom). They contain 1 or 2 small seeds and their weight makes the clusters hang down.