Anyone know what the evergreen tree/bush, which looks a lot like a
ficus benjamani but with tiny grape-like clusters of purple-black
fruit, growing along the greenbelt is? Most seemed to be
multitrunked, with very light bark and rather glossy dark green
leaves. (I didn't have my camera today, and I don't have a web site
to post a photo to anyway.) I didn't see anything like it in
Wasowski's NATIVE PLANTS. Is it native, naturalized, undesirable for
any particular reason? Are the fruits eaten by birds or animals?

Just looking for native species with interesting textures, colors,
and/or wildlife attracting properties.

Sounds like ligustrum to me. Invasive pest as far as I am concerned.

Hallie

On 15 Dec 2002 17:00:51 -0800, (ratSenoL)
wrote:

Anyone know what the evergreen tree/bush, which looks a lot like a
ficus benjamani but with tiny grape-like clusters of purple-black
fruit, growing along the greenbelt is? Most seemed to be
multitrunked, with very light bark and rather glossy dark green
leaves. (I didn't have my camera today, and I don't have a web site
to post a photo to anyway.) I didn't see anything like it in
Wasowski's NATIVE PLANTS. Is it native, naturalized, undesirable for
any particular reason? Are the fruits eaten by birds or animals?

Most likely Japanese privet (Ligustrum japonicum), a widely planted,
non-native ornamental. It's unfortunately very common now in our
native woodland areas as well.The seeds are dispersed by birds and
small mammals attracted to the blue-black berries.

Its desirability, like most exotic plants, depends on one's point of
view. :-) On the one hand it's one of our most common landscaping
plants, a fast-growing, drought-tolerant evergreen shrub with
attractive white flowers and persistent fruit. But in the wild it's a
thicket-forming invader that chokes out native understory plants in
our creek and river bottoms. It's a significant pest species here in
the Barton Creek greenbelt area.

On 15 Dec 2002 17:00:51 -0800, (ratSenoL)
wrote:

Anyone know what the evergreen tree/bush, which looks a lot like a
ficus benjamani but with tiny grape-like clusters of purple-black
fruit, growing along the greenbelt is? Most seemed to be
multitrunked, with very light bark and rather glossy dark green
leaves. (I didn't have my camera today, and I don't have a web site
to post a photo to anyway.) I didn't see anything like it in
Wasowski's NATIVE PLANTS. Is it native, naturalized, undesirable for
any particular reason? Are the fruits eaten by birds or animals?

Just looking for native species with interesting textures, colors,
and/or wildlife attracting properties.
I'll second (third?) the opinions already expressed. A former
coworker called it the "second-biggest weed in TX." Biggest being . .
.. care to guess?
For more info about the International Society of Arboriculture, please visit http://www2.champaign.isa-arbor.com/.
For consumer info about tree care, visit http://www2.champaign.isa-arbor.com/.../consumer.html

(Babberney) wrote in message news:9FE2DC4361D5C90E.5B84ACAB99AC2FB2.CCA3DBA7A3 ...
On 15 Dec 2002 17:00:51 -0800, (ratSenoL)
wrote:

Anyone know what the evergreen tree/bush, which looks a lot like a
ficus benjamani but with tiny grape-like clusters of purple-black
fruit, growing along the greenbelt is? Most seemed to be
multitrunked, with very light bark and rather glossy dark green
leaves. (I didn't have my camera today, and I don't have a web site
to post a photo to anyway.) I didn't see anything like it in
Wasowski's NATIVE PLANTS. Is it native, naturalized, undesirable for
any particular reason? Are the fruits eaten by birds or animals?

Just looking for native species with interesting textures, colors,
and/or wildlife attracting properties.
I'll second (third?) the opinions already expressed. A former
coworker called it the "second-biggest weed in TX." Biggest being . .
. care to guess?

Thanks for the responses; although somewhat pretty, it doesn't sound
like something I want in my landscape.

"ratSenoL" wrote in message
om...
| (Babberney) wrote in message
news:9FE2DC4361D5C90E.5B84ACAB99AC2FB2.CCA3DBA7A3
t...
| On 15 Dec 2002 17:00:51 -0800, (ratSenoL)
| wrote:
|
| Anyone know what the evergreen tree/bush, which looks a lot like
a
| ficus benjamani but with tiny grape-like clusters of purple-black
| fruit, growing along the greenbelt is? Most seemed to be
| multitrunked, with very light bark and rather glossy dark green
| leaves. (I didn't have my camera today, and I don't have a web
site
| to post a photo to anyway.) I didn't see anything like it in
| Wasowski's NATIVE PLANTS. Is it native, naturalized, undesirable
for
| any particular reason? Are the fruits eaten by birds or animals?
|
| Just looking for native species with interesting textures,
colors,
| and/or wildlife attracting properties.
| I'll second (third?) the opinions already expressed. A former
| coworker called it the "second-biggest weed in TX." Biggest being
.. .
| . care to guess?
|
| Thanks for the responses; although somewhat pretty, it doesn't sound
| like something I want in my landscape.

We had one, two stories tall, that had to be taken down, here before
we were. They do invade the creekbeds and crowd out the native
understory, but the berries produced by our specimen did attract the
most beautiful flocks of cedar waxwings twice a year.

On Tue, 17 Dec 2002 17:43:09 GMT, "Texensis"
wrote:

"ratSenoL" wrote in message
. com...

| Thanks for the responses; although somewhat pretty, it doesn't sound
| like something I want in my landscape.

We had one, two stories tall, that had to be taken down, here before
we were. They do invade the creekbeds and crowd out the native
understory, but the berries produced by our specimen did attract the
most beautiful flocks of cedar waxwings twice a year.

One of the first things I did when we moved here was to chop down the
huge ligustrums shading out what was then a very young possumhaw. The
possumhaw is now 12' or so, and set a good crop of berries this year.
Its a good example of how ligustrum may not be offering more food for
birds, just displacing previously available wild food sources that
local and migratory bird species have adapted to and depend on.

On the eastern corner we have a near monoculture of small ligustrums,
where nothing like a new possumhaw would ever have a chance. I'm
cutting and pulling as fast as I can. :-)