Nestegis ligustrina

Privet Mock Olive
Mount Imlay, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Oleaceae
Genus:	Nestegis
Species:	N. ligustrina
Binomial name
Nestegis ligustrina (Vent.) L.A.S.Johnson
Synonyms
Notelaea ligustrina Vent.

Nestegis ligustrina, known as The Privet Mock Olive or Silkwood, is a plant in the olive family, found in south eastern Australia. Growing in and near rainforests south of Monga National Park, and into Victoria and the island state of Tasmania.^[1] The specific epithet ligustrina refers to the Privet, which it resembles.^[2]

A shrub or small tree, up to 16 metres tall and a trunk diameter of 80 cm. It features dull, hairless leaves, 3 to 10 cm long, 10 to 25 mm wide. Leaf stems are purple in colour, 2 to 5 mm long. Greenish yellow flowers form on racemes from the leaf axils, from January to April. Relatively large fruit mature from summer to Easter, up to 10 mm in diameter. White, or colours between pink to dark purple.

References

1. ^ "Nestegis ligustrina". PlantNET - NSW Flora Online, retrieved 27 January 2011. http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Nestegis~ligustrina. 
2. ^ Floyd, A.G., Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia, Inkata Press 2008, ISBN 9780958943673 page 273