[2][3][4] The shrub is native to South and Southeast Asia (Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam) but has become naturalized in other countries.

[5] It was introduced to Mauritius at the end of the 19th century and to La Réunion, where it has become a major invasive species.

chinense P. S. Green" as native to China,[7] but more recent publications have regarded that name as a synonym of L.

[8] Ligustrum robustum was nominated among 100 of the "World's Worst" invasive species.

[6] Other lepidoptera that feed on this plant are Brahmaea wallichii, Pangrapta grisangula[9] and Dolbina inexacta.