CHAP. LXXV. OLEA‘CER. SYRI'NGA. 1209 
Derivation. From sirinx, the native name in Barbary. The tubes of the finest Turkish pipes are 
manufactured from the wood of this shrub; and also from that of the Philadélphus coronarius, 
to which the name was originally given (see p. 951.). Hence the old English name of Pipe Tree, 
which was applied both to the Philadélphus and the Syringa. Lilac is from Jélac, or lilag, the 
Persian word for a flower. 
Gen. Char., §c. Calyx small, 4-toothed. Corol/a funnel-shaped, with a 4- 
parted limb. Stamens 2, enclosed. Stigma trifid. Capsule ovate, com- 
pressed, 2-celled, 2-valved, 2-seeded; valves navicular, with a narrow dis- 
sepiment in the middle. (Don’s Mill., iv. p.51.)—Deciduous shrubs, with 
simple leaves and thyrsoid terminal panicles of flowers, which are oppo- 
sitely branched. Flowers purple or white. Natives of Europe and the 
colder parts of Asia; highly valued in the gardens of temperate climates 
for the beauty and fragrance of their flowers, and the profusion in which 
these are produced in the spring of the year. The natural mode of pro- 
pagating is by suckers, which all the species produce in abundance; and 
they will all grow in any common soil. The price of plants, in the London 
nurseries, is from 6d. to Is. 6d. each; at Bollwyller, from 30 cents to 2 
francs; and et New York, where all the sorts are quite hardy, from 25 
cents to 50 cents. 
% 1.8. vutea‘ris L. The common Lilac. 
Identification. Lin. Sp., 11. ; Don’s Mill, 4. p.51.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. 
Synonymes. Lilac vulgaris Gertn.; Pipe Privet, or Pipe Tree; Lilas commun, Fr.; gemeiner 
Flieder, Ger. 
Engravings. Lam. Iill., t. 7. ; Schmidt Baum., t.77.; N. Du. Ham., t.61.; Schkuhr Handb., 1. t. 2. ; 
and our fig. 1036. 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves ovate-cordate, acuminated. The common blue lilac, 
now so plentiful in every plantation, was a great rarity in the year 1597. 
(Don’s Mill., iv. p. 51.) A-shrub, from 8 ft. to 10 ft. high, a native of Persia, 
and of Hungary, of chalky precipices in the Cverna valley, and Mount Do- 
moglet, as well as of the whole group of rocks along the Danube. In 
cultivation in Britain in 1597, and flowering in May. 
Varieties. 
% S.v. 1 cerilea Clus. Hist., i. p. 56., Ger. Emac., 1399. f. 2., Besl. Eyst., 
t. 1. f. 2., Park. Par., 407. t. 409. f.4., Theatr., 1467. f.1. Zhe 
common blue Lilac.—There is a subvariety, with the leaves imper- 
fectly variegated. 
% S. v. 2 violdcea Curt. Bot. Mag., t. 183., Mill. Ic., t. 163. The common 
purple Lilac; also called the Scotch Lilac, because it was first 
recorded in Sutherland’s Catalogue of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden. 
£S. v. 3 alba. The common white Lilac.—This variety flowers earliest. 
% S.v.4 alba major Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, has larger flowers than the 
previous variety. 
% S. v. 5 alba pléna, S. pléna Lodd. Cat., is said to have the flowers double ; 
but the plant bearing this name in the Horticultural Society’s Gar- 
den has single flowers. 
 S. v. 6 rubra Lodd. Cat. has red flowers. 
% S.v.7 rubra major Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; the Lilas de Marly of the 
French gardeners ; has flowers larger than the parent variety. 
Other Varieties. A number of plants have been raised from seed by 
Mr. Williams of Pitmaston, of which there are six sorts, tolerably distinct, 
in the Horticultural Society’s Garden. The French nurserymen are also 
in possession of some new seedlings ; but none of all that we have ob- 
served are so well deserving of culture as the common blue, violet, red, and 
white. Inthe arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges there is a plant marked 
S. chinénsis, which appears to be S. vulgaris alba; and another, received 
from Soulange-Bodin, marked Charles X. (S. v. Caroli Lodd. Cat., ed. 
1836), which appears to be a variety of S. v. purpurea. Another, marked 
S. sibirica, appears to be S. v. purpurea; but, these plants, except the first, 
being quite young, we have only seen them in leaf. 
Description, §c. The common lilac grows to the height of 20ft. and . 
