Ligustrum robustum

{{Short description|Species of shrub}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Ligustrum robustum ssp walkeri.JPG

| image_caption = Ligustrum robustum in the foreground

| genus = Ligustrum

| species = robustum

| authority = (Roxb.) Blume

| synonyms = *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.

| synonyms_ref = [http://www.tropicos.org/Name/23000863 Tropicos]

}}

Ligustrum robustum grows as a shrub or small tree up to {{convert|10|m|-1|abbr=on}} tall though old specimens of more than a hundred years have been observed with a height of {{convert|15|m|-1|abbr=on}}. The fruit of the shrub is an ellipsoid berry, bluish-purple when fully ripe, {{convert|7|-|10|mm|abbr=on}} × {{convert|4|-|5|mm|abbr=on}}.{{Cite web |url=http://www.plantwise.org/KnowledgeBank/Datasheet.aspx?dsid=30761%20 |title=Plantwise Knowledge Bank datasheet |access-date=2014-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924074210/http://www.plantwise.org/KnowledgeBank/Datasheet.aspx?dsid=30761 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status=dead }}[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/446792#page/315/mode/1up 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][https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/787378#page/106/mode/1up Roxburgh, William. 1820. Flora Indica; or descriptions of Indian Plants 1: 101–102, Phillyrea robusta ]

The shrub is native to South and Southeast Asia (Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam) but has become naturalized in other countries.[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=354127%20 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Ligustrum robustum] It was introduced to Mauritius at the end of the 19th century and to La Réunion, where it has become a major invasive species. The Flora of China lists a "Ligustrum robustum subsp. chinense P. S. Green" as native to China,[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=210000998 Flora of China, v 15 p 302, Ligustrum robustum subsp. chinense] but more recent publications have regarded that name as a synonym of L. expansum.[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=352420 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Ligustrum robustum subsp. chinense]

Ligustrum robustum was nominated among 100 of the "World's Worst" invasive species. A moth (Epiplema albida), and two coleoptera (Dermorhytis ornatissima and Dermorhytis lewisi) are being tested for biological control programs in La Réunion but have not yet been released.[http://www.invasive.org/proceedings/pdfs/12_476-483.pdf%20www.invasive.org 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]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Other lepidoptera that feed on this plant are Brahmaea wallichii, Pangrapta grisangula[http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/hostplants/search/list.dsml?searchPageURL=index.dsml&Familyqtype=starts+with&Family=&PFamilyqtype=starts+with&PFamily=&Genusqtype=starts+with&Genus=&PGenusqtype=starts+with&PGenus=Ligustrum&Speciesqtype=starts+with&Species=&PSpeciesqtype=starts+with&PSpecies=robustum&Country=&sort=Family%20www.nhm.ac.uk%20 Caterpillar host plant database] and Dolbina inexacta.