Privet (Wild Prvet, Privet Hedge)

"Wild" Privet

Ligustrum (ovalifolium)?

Family: Oleaceae

Recycle from 2008 (As of May 2nd, not all the the bushes are this advanced, but they are coming on full force, and folks will want to know what they are.)

Look anywhere around Arkansas, and you are bound to see Privet as part of our highway underbrush. For the most part Privet is "invisible" till it blooms in May then shows us just how much of it there is. For those of us who love its fragrance, Privet is a wonderful thing. (Some folks find them too fragrant. Oddly, They seem most potent at night when you can't see them.)

Privet is a European or Asian transplant, and invasive. But it isn't only found on the roadside. With a little pruning Privet can be "made" a tree, or more commonly, a hedge.
For unwild uses see: http://springhillnursery.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_66517


You can see a huge stand of "wild" Privet on the North Little Rock Hill, where Interstate 40 and Interstate 30 merge, near JFK. But its pretty much everywhere, though often mixed and merged with concurrent blooming Honeysuckle. (Honeysuckle runs yellowish, but at a distance Privet and Honey-Suckle often look alike ... Except that Privet spikes into the air, and is its own thing, rather than a vine.

For more on Privet see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privet
For more on the Oleaceae family (which includes olives) see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleaceae

Snapshot, 2/8/10 - 2/10/10 Blanco

I have chased these rhythms with my lens
‘til I know now the basic parts:
A warming monolithic snow
dipping maple wood wet-black
and casting snowmen,
followed by the polyrhythm drip
and the ever catching earth.
 
(fragment, KSJ Incredible Math)
 
 
This is not a normal "ID Arkansas" post, as in - showcasing something to ID -- but this "Snapshot" reinforces for me just what a tight clock "Mother Nature" runs. I have pictures taken over several years that show major weather storms during this specific time in February. Last year, the 9th, it was a full on ICE assault culminating in one of the worst natural disasters in AR recorded history, the year before that we had back to back snow falls on the 6th and 9th. Only difference, that year Spring got a false start in January, which led to early blooming things (the Japanese Magnolia in particular) taking it on the chin. It would seem the Japanese Mags learned their lesson this year and are staying tightly tucked.

For some extra snow fun check out these Face Book Galleries

Snow One (Before 10AM on Monday Feb 8th)
Snow Two (After 10AM on Monday Feb 8th)
Invasion of the Frostoids  (February 9 and 10)