SYRINGA 571 



from the uppermost buds of the preceding summer's growth in small, some- 

 times branching panicles, 2 to 3 ins. long and as much wide. Corolla-tube 

 about I in. long, the four spreading lobes rather shorter. Calyx funnel- 

 shaped with four short, pointed lobes. Seed-vessels ^ in. long, cylindrical. 



Native of Afghanistan; said to have been introduced to England in 1640. 

 Cultivated from time immemorial in Persia and India, it has altered some- 

 what from the wild type, which was found by Dr Aitchison when attached 

 to the Afghan Boundary Commission in 1879; this has shorter-stalked leaves 

 and more pointed fruits than the cultivated S. persica. 



Var. ALBA, Alton. Flowers white. 



Var. LACINIATA, Alton. Leaves cut back to the midrib into five, seven, 

 or nine parallel oblong lobes. This variety appears to produce seed under 

 cultivation more freely than either the typical or white forms. 



The Persian lilac, in all its forms, is a delightful shrub both in its neat 

 habit and fragrant blossom. Increased by cuttings of nearly ripe wood. 



S. PINNATIFOLIA, Hemsley. 



A deciduous shrub, 6 to 8 ft. high, of elegant bushy habit; the young 

 shoots and every other part of the plant free from down. Leaves pinnate, 

 \\ to 3! ins. long, composed of seven, nine, or eleven leaflets, which are 

 dull green, stalkless, ovate-lanceolate ; f to ij ins. long, to f in. wide; 

 pointed, the base rounded, or in the case of the terminal leaflets frequently 

 attached to the common stalk by a portion of the blade. Flowers white, 

 with a slight lilac tint, produced in May in panicles i| to 3 ins. long, 

 which spring usually in opposite pairs from the joints of the previous year's 

 wood. Corolla-tube \ in. long, the lobes at the mouth spreading and giving 

 the flower a diameter of j in.; calyx-lobes rounded. 



Native of W. China; discovered by Wilson in 1904 at an elevation of 

 9000 ft. The pinnate leaves of this species at once suggest an affinity with 

 the cut-leaved variety of the Persian lilac, but they are divided (except some- 

 times near the apex) into quite distinct leaflets, and not merely lobed as in 

 the other. It has flowered several times, and will no doubt prove quite 

 hardy. It has great interest as a new and distinct lilac, but its garden value 

 will never, I think, equal that of the Persian lilac. 



S. PUBESCENS, Turczaninow. 

 (S. villosa of Bot. Mag., t. 7064 not of Vakl.) 



A deciduous shrub or small tree, 12 to 15 ft. high, forming a rounded 

 head of branches ; young shoots smooth. Leaves i to 2^ ins. long, f to i 

 ins. wide ; broadly ovate, sometimes roundish, tapered abruptly at the 

 apex to a short point, rounded or broadly wedge-shaped at the base; dull 

 green and smooth above, pale and with a little scattered down beneath, 

 most abundant on the midrib; stalk j to ^ in. long. Flowers fragrant, pale 

 lilac or nearly white, produced along with the young leaves during early 

 May in leafless panicles from one or both of the terminal buds of last year's 

 shoots. The panicles are 3 to 5 ins. long, 2 to 3 ins. wide, the corolla-tube 

 slender, ^ in. long; lobes in. long, the incurving of the margins making 

 them cupped. Calyx very short, with triangular lobes. 



Native of N. China; introduced by the late Dr Bretschneider in 1881. 

 It is only a second-rate lilac in this country, owing to the frequent injury 

 of the young growths and panicles by late frost. In the United 

 States, where the summer heat is greater, and the seasons better defined, 

 it is very beautiful. The confusion in the naming of this shrub and S. villosa, 

 l) is alluded to under that species. 



