THE LILAC. 



THE Lilac, though not one of our native trees, has be- 

 come so generally naturalized in our fields and gardens 

 as hardly to be distinguished from them except by its 

 absence from the forest. It is common in all waste lands 

 that were formerly the sites of ancient dwelling-houses, 

 marking the spot where the garden was situated by its 

 irregular clumps ; for when neglected it does not assume 

 the shape of a tree, but forms an assemblage of long 

 stems from one spreading root, like the barberry and the 

 sumach. Under favorable conditions it is a very hand- 

 some tree, seldom rising above twelve or fifteen feet, but 

 displaying a round head, and covered in its season with a 

 profusion of flowers, unfolding their beautiful pyramidal 

 clusters regularly on the last week in May. The color 

 of these flowers is perfectly unique, having given the 

 name by which painters distinguish one of their most 

 important tints. The foliage of this tree is not remark- 

 able, except for the regular heart shape of the leaves. 

 It displays no tints in the autumn, but falls from the tree 

 while its verdure remains untarnished. 



The Lilac is still cultivated and prized in all our coun- 

 try villages. But its praise is seldom spoken in these 

 days, for Fashion, who refuses to acknowledge any beauty 

 in what is common, discarded this tree as soon as it be- 

 came domesticated in humble cottage gardens. Even the 

 rose would long ago have been degraded from its ancient 

 honors by this vulgar arbiter of taste, if it had not been 

 multiplied into hundreds of varieties, permitting one 



