What are the values and uses of the glossy privet tree? Read this article to understand

Landscaping uses

The glossy privet sways in all four seasons, with well-spaced branches, dense foliage and a neat tree shape. It is a commonly used ornamental tree species in gardens, and can be planted alone or in clusters in courtyards, or used as a street tree. Because of its strong adaptability, fast growth and tolerance to pruning, it is also used as a hedge. It generally takes 3 to 4 years to take shape and achieve a screening effect. It is easy to propagate and raise seedlings from seed, and can also serve as a rootstock for grafting and propagating osmanthus, lilac, and the colored-leaf plant golden-leaf privet.

Medical uses of glossy privet leaves

The glossy privet leaves are opposite, leathery, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 5-14 cm long and 3.5-6 cm wide, with a pointed tip and a rounded base, dark green and glossy on the upper surface. The flowers are small and fragrant, densely arranged in terminal panicles 12-20 cm long; the drupe is long-elliptical, slightly curved, purplish-blue when ripe, with a white powder. The flowering period is June to July, and the fruiting period is August to December. After the glossy privet leaves are soaked for 24 hours, the fragrant wintergreen oil can be extracted by distillation, and it is often added to sweets and toothpaste. Wintergreen oil is easily absorbed by the skin, and it has astringent, diuretic and stimulating effects, and can be used to treat muscle pain.

Medicinal value of glossy privet fruit

The glossy privet also has medicinal value. The mature fruits are harvested and sun-dried, or blanched in hot water and then sun-dried, and in traditional Chinese medicine they are called glossy privet fruit. The thousand-grain weight is about 36 grams, with 27,000 grains per kilogram, and the germination rate is 50-70%. It is cool in nature and sweet-bitter in taste, and can nourish the liver and kidneys, improve eyesight and darken the hair. It mainly treats symptoms such as dizziness and tinnitus, blurred vision, dimness of vision, tinnitus and deafness, premature graying of the hair and beard, and loose teeth.