SYRINGA 569 



Panicles 2 to 3 ins. long, usually in pairs from the terminal buds of the 

 previous year's shoots, sometimes from the two or three uppermost pairs; 

 hairy like the shoots. Flowers fragrant, to in. long, to in. across the 

 lobes. Calyx violet-coloured, smooth, with short pointed lobes. The hairy 

 flower-stalks (about in. long) carry one to three blossoms. Corolla deep 

 lilac outside, pale inside the lobes. 



Native of W. China; introduced for Messrs Veitch about 190x3. It is 

 allied to S. pubescens and S. VELUTINA, Komarov, but is much more downy 

 than the first (g.v.) and its flowers are more deeply coloured. The second 

 species may not be in cultivation, but has a downy calyx. S. Julianae flowers 

 in May and June and is both distinct and pretty, but not equal to the best 

 lilacs. 



S. OBLATA, Lindley. 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 7806.) 



A deciduous shrub, 10 to 12 ft. high, or a small tree, similar in habit to 

 the common lilac; young shoots smooth, round; buds purplish. Leaves very 

 broadly heart-shaped, often considerably wider than long, being i^ to 4 ins. 

 wide, 1 1 to 3 ins. long; short-pointed, smooth on both surfaces; stalk f to 

 i in. long. Flowers pale lilac, produced at the beginning of May in short 

 broad panicles, usually in pairs from the uppermost joints of the previous 

 year's wood. Corolla-tube \ in. long, about f in. across the lobes; calyx 

 slightly glandular, with pointed lance-shaped lobes. Seed-vessel $ in. long, 

 slender-pointed. 



Native of N. China; introduced by Robt. Fortune from a garden in 

 Shanghai in 1856. It is closely allied to S. vulgaris, but is easily distin- 

 guished by the wider leaves and by flowering about a fortnight earlier. My 

 experience of it is, that it is the most unsatisfactory of all the lilacs except 

 S. amurensis. It is excited into growth by mild weather in early spring, 

 only to have its young leaves and flowers destroyed by later frost. Probably 

 in higher localities it may succeed better, for the shrub itself is perfectly 

 hardy, and in climates with a much harder but more settled winter than ours 

 flowers abundantly. 



S. AFFINIS, L. Henry, is a white-flowered lilac very near S. oblata; it has 

 been called " S. oblata var. alba." The young shoots are finely downy the 

 leaves on the average smaller. Native of N. China. 



S. PEKINENSIS, Ruprecht. 



(Ligustrina pekinensis, Regel.') 



A deciduous small tree of spreading, graceful habit, over 20 ft. high 

 eventually; young shoots smooth. Leaves ovate, oval, or ovate-lanceolate, 

 2 to 4 ins. long, i to 2 ins. wide; mostly tapering, sometimes rounded at the 

 base, long and tapering at the apex, quite smooth on both surfaces; stalk 

 slender, \ to f in. long. Flowers white, very densely clustered in numerous 

 loose panicles 3 to 5 ins. long, produced in pairs. Seed-vessel to in. 

 long, smooth, pointed at the end. 



Native of the mountains of N. China, where it was discovered by the 

 Abbe David. It was raised at Kew in 1881 from seed sent from Pekin by 

 the late Dr Bretschneider. Botanically allied to S. japonica, it is very 

 distinct as seen growing. It has much more slender branches, the leaves 

 are smaller, the inflorescence instead of being sturdy, pyramidal, and erect, 

 is much smaller and is a loose, rather shapeless panicle; the seed vessel, too, 

 differs in the more pointed ape x . It is perfectly hardy, and has grown more 

 II 20 



