Privet: Accurate Identification

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- Privet is an invasive shrub originally introduced from Europe and Asia in the mid 1800s for hedges and other ornamental landscaping uses.

It quickly escaped cultivation, spreading to adjacent natural areas, often forming dense thickets.

It continues to be used in landscaping today despite its invasive nature.

What we identify as privet across Pennsylvania and other mid Atlantic states involves a number of different species, including border, common, Japanese, and Chinese privet, all belong to the Oleaceae or olive family.

It can be difficult to differentiate between species, but species identification isn't usually necessary since they function similarly in an ecosystem and require the same control methods.

Privet is a shrub, growing up to 15 feet in height, which depending on species may be deciduous, semi-evergreen, or evergreen.

The leaves are elliptic or ovate in shape, oppositely arranged with entire or smooth leaf edges and range from one to three inches in length.

Privet often holds its foliage into winter, dropping leaves before spring.

Privet flowers are brilliant white, four petaled and trumpet-shaped.

They appear in clusters at the ends of twigs and on short lateral branches along the stem in late spring.

Each blossom is a half-inch or less in length.

The stems are yellow gray and follow a distinct four-ranked growth pattern.

This pattern can be observed by viewing a stem section lengthwise.

When you look straight down the middle of the main stem, the differently angled branch pairs coming off the central stem appear to form an X shape.

Privet fruit first appears green, than ripens to dark purple or blue black during September and October and persist on the shrub through the winter.

Often, they can be seen alongside next year's flowers.

The fruits are about quarter inch in diameter and occur in clusters at the ends of the twigs.

Mature shrubs can produce an abundance of fruit.

Privet is primarily spread by birds and other wildlife which eat the fruit nearly year round and disperse the seeds.

Privet can also regenerate after cutting by sending up sprouts for roots and cut stumps.

While privet prefers higher levels of sunlight in areas such as forest edges, old fields, and fence rows, it is moderately shade tolerant and can begin to invade under the low light conditions of a mature forest canopy.

Privet also establishes well on disturbed mineral soil and bottom lands, and is often found on sites with rich soils.

Several native shrubs species having simple leaves, smooth leaf margins, and opposite branching, including dogwoods and viburnums, may be confused with privet.

Bark texture and the four-ranked branch growth pattern of privet are the best traits to use when differentiating between these genera.

Native dogwoods and viburnums do not have the distinctly four-ranked branch growth pattern and species in both groups have other clear distinctive identification features.

Privet is an aggressive invader of natural areas, often forming dense thickets that shade out and exclude native plant species.

Learn to identify this invasive shrub in your woods, then you can confidently apply control measures and re-establish the site with desirable and functional native plant species.