# Upland Swamp Privet (Forestiera ligustrina)

> A shrub of the limestone glades and rocky woods of the Southeast, with gray-green leaves, summer flowers and blue-black fruit in early fall.

Also called upland privet, glade privet, Forestiera autumnalis. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/upland-swamp-privet/

![Upland swamp privet (Forestiera ligustrina) small yellow flower clusters among oval leaves in late summer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/upland-swamp-privet-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Mason Brock, Public domain · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AForestiera_ligustrina.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 6 to 10 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 6 to 9
- Grows wild in: Rocky ground, dry uplands, sandy barrens and stream banks
- Native range: 10 states, north to Kentucky, south to Florida and west to Texas (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas)
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Dry, Average
- Growth rate: Medium
- Traits: Drought tolerant, Rare
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Upland swamp privet is a shrub of the olive family from limestone glades, rocky slopes, river bluffs and sandy stream banks across the Southeast. In the cedar glades of Tennessee it grows with fragrant sumac, Carolina buckthorn and rusty blackhaw, which we also grow. Unlike our swamp privet, which blooms on bare twigs in early spring, it flowers in summer among its leaves. Kentucky lists it as a species of special concern. Plant it on a dry, rocky slope or a sunny woodland edge, where the soil is thin and bakes in summer.

## Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a medium grower, like our swamp privet, about a foot and a half a year. It makes a shrub up to about 10 feet tall and nearly as wide, deciduous or half evergreen, with gray-green leaves and little fall color.

Tiny yellowish flowers without petals open from June to August, after the leaves are out. Male and female flowers grow on separate plants.

It grows wild from Kentucky and Tennessee south to Florida and west to Texas. Its homes are limestone glades and rocky woods, granite outcrops, sandy stream banks, dunes and the edges of swampy woods. Limestone quarries and clearing for timber threaten some of its wild sites. NatureServe ranks it critically imperiled in Arkansas, at the western edge of its range.

## How to grow Upland Swamp Privet

Upland swamp privet grows in full sun or part shade, in soil that drains well. In the wild it grows on thin soil over limestone that is wet in winter and dry by late summer. Set plants 5 feet apart and keep them 5 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. It is sown as swamp privet is. Sow the ripe fruit in early fall, as soon as it turns blue-black, pulp and all.

Water weekly through the first summer and in dry spells until it is established. Where deer are common, cage young plants for their first winters. It needs little pruning beyond cutting out dead stems in late winter.

Plants are male or female, and only females bear fruit, so plant three or more seedlings for a male and a female. The blue-black fruit ripens in early fall, and it is shorter and plumper than the fruit of our swamp privet.

## Sources

- [NatureServe Explorer: Forestiera ligustrina, Upland Swamp-privet](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.128446/Forestiera_ligustrina)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Forestiera ligustrina](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=FOLI)
- [The Dawes Arboretum, Arboretum Explorer: Forestiera ligustrina, upland foresteria, upland swamp-privet](https://dawesarb.arboretumexplorer.org/taxon-22111.aspx)
- [Hardin 1974, Studies of the southeastern United States flora IV. Oleaceae, Sida 5: 274-285](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16201626)
- [USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System, LANDFIRE Biophysical Setting 13970, Nashville Basin Limestone Glade and Woodland (Pyne and Fitch, August 2020)](https://research.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/feis/bps/13970_48.pdf)
- [USDA NRCS Ecological Site Description F123XY003TN](https://edit.sc.egov.usda.gov/catalogs/esd/123X/F123XY003TN)
- [Florida Natural Areas Inventory: Field Guide, Godfrey's swampprivet (2000)](https://www.fnai.org/PDFs/FieldGuides/Forestiera_godfreyi.pdf)
- [Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves: Kentucky Rare Plant List, September 30, 2022](https://eec.ky.gov/Nature-Preserves/biodiversity/Documents/2022%20Kentucky%20Rare%20Plant%20List%202.pdf)
- [Mississippi Natural Heritage Program: Special Plants, Tracking List, 2018](https://www.mdwfp.com/sites/default/files/2024-03/special-plant-tracking-list-2018.pdf)
- [Alabama Plant Atlas: Forestiera ligustrina](http://www.floraofalabama.org/Plant.aspx?id=2717)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Forestiera ligustrina](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/FOLI)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Upland Swamp Privet, add ?species=upland-swamp-privet with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=upland-swamp-privet&zone=6&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Upland Swamp Privet](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=upland-swamp-privet): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=upland-swamp-privet
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Upland Swamp Privet is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=upland-swamp-privet
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Upland Swamp Privet needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=upland-swamp-privet:3
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Upland Swamp Privet flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.