Good question! It didn't reveal itself in my research. There's an overwhelming amount of information about the plant in cultivation and a tiny smattering of info about the wild plant. I think if I was multilingual I'd have a better chance of finding out--it seems to grow wild in the Mediterranean area still.
I used to have that hedge in my front yard when I owned the house! I observed that, in addition to birds, cats also seemed to enjoy hiding in the hedge. Or perhaps they were just looking for some fast food?
I think the plant you have pictured is actually privet, ligustrum ovalifolium, see http://www.hedging.co.uk/acatalog/pics_10273.html for pics. The plants are similar to box, but are much larger, the leaves can be up to an inch (25 mm) in length, the plant is semi-evergreen. Privet bears small clusters of white flowers in mid summer, turning into blue/black berries in the autumn. All parts of the plant are poisonous, but leaves are eaten by a number of insects, and are commonly used to feed pet stick insects. Box bears much smaller leaves, about 10 mm long, and more rounded, the wood is quite dense, 54-60 lbs per cubic foot, is yellow in colour, and is used for rules and scales, chessmen, fancy boxes, engravers blocks and fine turnery. The wood of privet does not grow to any useful size.
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