I live in the Bay Area (Oakland) and was wondering if someone could help me identify this. Here are some attached pictures. I'm in one of the pictures so that you can have a good size reference. Thanks!
http://ag.arizona.edu/pima/gardening/aridplants/Ligustrum_japonicum.html L. japonicum tends to be shrubby. L. lucidum can get 30ft tall. This specimen is arboresent.
NIce looking form. When I visited the LA area for the first time a couple of years ago - I know you are in S. F. - the availability of nice species was apparent. Had I been like 26 years old again, it would have been tempting to move down there and work for a few years. A few years : - )
Thanks! Was thinking of planting another one in my yard. I like this tree because it holds its leaves all year round needs very little water to thrive and gives shade which i like especially on those hot summer days. Thanks again!
Upon reading further from a google search i noticed some concern of it being pest plant with the potential to disrupt native plant communities. I am willing to consider alternatives, any suggestions? Things i like are moderately drought tolerant. Needs supplemental watering only during prolonged dry periods. Reasonable height 10-15 feet should be more than enough and leaves that will remain all year long. Relatively fast growth. I do not care for nor do i need it to have any flowers.
Actually it's the other way around of what I said above (about leaf size) - if it has leaves "of the larger order" it would be L. lucidum. Apart from differences in the flowers you tell these two apart by the size and shape of the leaves. "Lvs. 4-6 in. long, acuminate: tube of corolla equalling lobes...L. lucidum" "Lvs. 3-4 in. long, short-acuminate to nearly obtuse; tube of corolla slightly longer than lobes...L. japonicum" --L.H. Bailey, Manual of Cultivated Plants - Revised Edition (1949, Macmillan, New York) http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=49851&highlight=lucidum
