It is a semi-evergreen or deciduousshrub, growing to 3 m (rarely up to 5 m) tall. The stems are stiff, erect, with grey-brown bark spotted with small brown lenticels. The leaves are borne in decussate opposite pairs, sub-shiny green, narrow oval to lanceolate, 2–6 cm long and 0.5–1.5 cm broad. The flowers are produced in mid-summer in panicles 3–6 cm long, each flower creamy-white, with a tubular base and a four-lobed corolla ('petals') 4–6 mm diameter. The flowers produce a strong, pungent fragrance that many people find unpleasant.[citation needed] The fruit is a small glossy black berry 6–8 mm diameter, containing one to four seeds. The berries are poisonous to humans but readily eaten by thrushes, which disperse the seeds in their droppings.[4][5][6]
Plants from the warmer parts of the range show a stronger tendency to be fully evergreen; these have sometimes been treated as a separate varietyLigustrum vulgare var. italicum (Mill.) Vahl,[5] but others do not regard it as distinct.[1]
The species was used for hedging in Elizabethan gardens in England, but was superseded by the more reliably evergreen introduction L. ovalifolium from Japan.[7]
A number of cultivars have been selected, including:[5]
'Aureum' – yellow leaves.
'Buxifolium' – small, oval leaves not over 2.5 cm long.
'Cheyenne' – cold-tolerant clone selected in North America.
'Chlorocarpum' - berries green.
'Insulense' – long, narrow leaves 5–11 cm long and 1-2.5 cm broad.
'Leucocarpum' – berries greenish-white.
'Lodense' – dense, dwarf shrub (the name is a portmanteau of 'low' and 'dense').
^Plantas medicinales. Virtudes insospechadas de plantas conocidas. 1987. Reader's Digest México S.A. de C.V. Printed by Gráficas Monte Albán S.A. de C.V. Querétaro, Mexico. ISBN968-28-0099-4