Ligustrum strongylophyllum Hemsl.

An evergreen shrub of elegant, loose habit, occasionally a small tree in the wild, sending out long, slender branches each season which, whilst young, are covered with a dense, minute down. Leaves nearly round, broadly oval or ovate, 1⁄3 to 3⁄4 in. long, often ending in a short abrupt tip, of firm texture, dark glossy green; margins slightly recurved; stalk 1⁄20 in. long. Flowers white, 1⁄4 in. in diameter, produced during July in a terminal pyramidal panicle, 2 to 4 in. high and as much wide at the base. Corolla-tube 1⁄8 in. long; lobes pointed, 1⁄8 in. or less long. Bot. Mag., t. 8069.

Native of China; introduced by Maries for Messrs Veitch in 1879. Maries no doubt collected it in the Yangtze Kiang valley, about Ichang, where it was afterwards found by Henry. It is an elegant privet, and its numerous, small, almost round leaves give it a distinct appearance. But it is not very hardy, and at Kew has only flowered satisfactorily on a south wall.