Ligustrum henryi Hemsl.

An evergreen bush up to 12 ft high, of neat habit especially when young; young shoots very downy. Leaves glabrous, variously shaped, from roundish ovate or almost round to ovate-lanceolate, 3⁄4 to 11⁄2 in. long, inconspicuously veined, of an almost black, shining green above. Flowers white, scented, in short-stalked terminal pyramidal panicles 2 to 6 in. long. Corolla 1⁄3 in. long; calyx and individual flower-stalk glabrous. Fruits oblong, black, 1⁄3 in. long.

Native of Central China; discovered by Henry; introduced by Wilson in 1901 for Messrs Veitch. As a small shrub it makes a neat and pleasing evergreen, effective because of the black-green lustre of its leaves. Perhaps not absolutely hardy in severe winters.