AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



443 



SYN 



Syngenesious. Having the anthers united at 

 their edges so as to forrii a tube. 



Syngo'nium. From syn, together, and gone, the 

 womb ; alluding to the cohesion of the ovaries. 

 Nat. Ord. Aroidem. 



S. aurilum, introduced from Jamaica, the 

 species most generally found in cultivation, is 

 a rather coarse-growing plant,, useful only in 

 large collections. S Vellozianum , S . Wenlandii, 

 S. podophyUtim-linealum, are all very showy 

 sorts and can b3 easily increased by division 

 of the stem in heat. Any old plants that get 

 too tall may have their tops cut off and 

 inserted as largo cuttings; they will soon 

 root in a warm, moist atmosphere. 



Synno'tia. Named in honor of W. Synnot, who 

 collected many plants at the Cape of Good 

 Hope ; erroneously spelled Synettia. Nat. Ord. 

 IridacecB. 



A small genus of three very pretty, green- 

 house, bulbous plants, now generally referred 

 to Gladiolus. S. bicolor is found in cultivation 

 under the name of Jxia bicolor. 



Synonym. In botany, a superseded or unused 

 name. 



Sy'nthyris. From syn, together, and thyrsvi, a 

 little door; in allusion to the closed valves 

 of the pod. Nat. Ord. Scrophulariacece. 



A genus of hardy, or pilose hardy, herbaceous 

 perennials, with thick rhizomes, natives of 

 northwest America. The bluish or reddish 

 flowers are borne in racemes or spikes four 

 to six inches long ; closely allied to Veronica. 



Syri'nga. The Lilac. Pipe Tree. From syrinx, 

 a pipe ; the branches are long and straight, 

 and filled with medulla ; hence the old name of 

 the Lilac, Pipe Tree. The English name of 

 the genus is from lilac or lilng, the Persian 

 word for the flower. Nat. Ord. Oleacem. 



A genus of well-known, deciduous shrubs, 

 with purplish or white flowers, natives of 

 southeastern Europe, Persia, northern India 

 and China. All the species are perfectly hardy, 

 and are easily grown. S. vulgaris, the com- 

 mon Lilac, with purple or white flowers, is of 

 doubtful origin, though generally credited to 

 Pereia, It has been under cultivation for 

 more than a hundred years, and from the 

 species many varieties have been obtained, 

 but without any marked peculiarities. S. 

 Persica, Persian Lilac, is a very distinct 

 species, of much smaller size, rarely growing 

 more than six feet high ; the branches are 

 slender and straight, the leaves are smaller 

 and narrowed at the base. The flowers are 

 produced in looser panicles, and the florets are 

 smaller, giving the whole plant a more grace- 

 ful appearance. The Rouen or Chinese Lilac, 

 (S. Chinensis, known also as /S. dubia and S. 

 Rothomfigensia, is intermediate between the 

 common and the Persian, and is a most desir- 

 able shrub. The large growing, S. Emodi,ivom 

 the Himalayas, is only suitable for large shrub- 

 beries, it bemg coarse in growth, .and not 

 remarkable for its flowers, which are pale 

 purple, and produced after those of the com- 

 mon Lilac are past. There is also a variegated 

 form of it. The Hungarian Lilac, S. Josikcza, 

 is a pretty shrub, and valuable, as it is quite 

 different from the others. It grows fully six 

 feet high, and bears erect spikes of small, 

 pale, mauve flowers. The new S. Japonica, 

 known also as S. Amuren^ia and Ligu?trina 



SYR 



Amurensis, is a most valuable, hardy, flowering 

 shrub. Its hardiness, vigorous growth, excel- 

 lent habit, ample foliage, and dense clusters 

 of creamy-white flowers, somewhat resembling 

 those of the Japanese privet, appearing at a 

 season when few trees are in bloom make it 

 one of the most desirable of the small trees 

 recently introduced into gardens. The fact 

 that it loses its leaves early in the autumn, 

 and that; they fall while still green, is the only 

 drawback which has yet been noticed in it as- 

 an ornamental plant. S. oblata is not known 

 in a wild state ; it was first discovered by 

 Fortune in a garden at Shanghai, and later by 

 the Abbe David in gardens near Pekin. Its 

 perfect, hardiness in this climate indicates Its 

 northern origin It flowers ten or twelve days 

 earlier than S. vulgaris, and its thick, leathery 

 leaves, which are never attacked by mildew, 

 turn in the autumn to a rich, dark russet 

 color, a character which should be liiken ad- 

 vantage of by hybridizers to secure a new 

 race of Lilacs with the large inflorescence of 

 S. vulgaris, and the foliage of /S. oblata. Seed- 

 ling varieties, many of them much superior 

 in size and color to the species, have been 

 originated in late years and are now in general 

 cultivation. Of the white sorts, the best at 

 the present writing are Marie Legrange, Alba 

 magna. Alba virginalis and Alba grandiflora. 

 Of the colored sorts the finest is Souvenir 

 de L. Spath, with massive clusters of very 

 large, richly-colored flowers. Charles X. 

 (an excellent variety for early forcing) is a. 

 desirable sort, and others good in color afe, 

 Alphonse Lavallee, Louis van Houtte, Le Gaul- 

 ois. Aline Mocquery and Rubra dc Marley. 

 There is also a double-llowered section in cul- 

 tivation which have denser flower-clusters, 

 and as a rule last longer in perfection thaa 

 the single varieties. 



Lilacs are now forced in larg(! quantities 

 for cut flowers, and when blanched pure 

 white they have a very chaste and beautiful 

 appearance. One of the best and most useful 

 for this purpose is the variety known as 

 Charles X. ; its panicles of flowers are much, 

 larger and more compact than the Persian 

 Lilac of our gardens, which is, however, well 

 adapted for similar use. If forced in suffi- 

 cient heat the coloring matter has no time 

 to form in the flowers, consequently the col- 

 ored sorts are as useful for forcing purposes 

 as the pure white varieties. All the species 

 are rapidly increased from layers or from 

 suckers, the only trouble being that they in- 

 crease so fast as to be troublesome. That 

 the Lilac has been cultivated for centuries 

 there is plenty of evidence. We have person- 

 ally gathered specimens growing with Pars- 

 ley {Apium petroselinum) in the debris of cas- 

 tles in Great Britain that had been in ruins 

 for over three hundred years, showing thai 

 the warlike barons, or their wives, had some 

 taste for the ornamental as well as the use- 

 ful, even in those early days. 



Sjrri'nga. A common name for Philadelphus 

 coronarius, which see. 



Syringo'dea. A small order of pretty, dwarf, 

 green-house, bulbous plants, closely allied to 

 Ixia. S. pulchella has very pretty, pale, purple 

 flowers Pearly two inches long, with filiform 

 leaves. Introduced from South Africa ia 

 1873. 



