572 SYRINGA 



S. VILLOSA, Vahl 



(S. Bretschneideri, Lemoine, Bot. Mag., t. 8292 ; S. Emodi var. rosea, Cornu ; S. Josiksea 



var. eximia, Hort.} 



A deciduous shrub, 10 ft. or more high, of robust habit; branches erect, 

 stout, stiff, quite smooth when young, marked with a few pale dots. Leaves 

 oval or oval lance-shaped, pointed, rounded or wedge-shaped at the base; 

 2 to 6 ins. long, i to 2j ins. wide; smooth and dark green above, glaucous 

 and thinly furnished with bristle-like hairs or nearly smooth beneath; stalk 

 J to ij ins. long. Panicles terminal and axillary, often three at the end of 

 a leafy shoot; they are usually 6 to 10 ins. long (but I have measured 

 exceptionally fine ones 18 ins. long) ; half to two-thirds as wide. Corolla 

 lilac-rose, j- in. long, the lobes in. long, rounded, spreading. Calyx bell- 

 shaped with four short, pointed lobes ; slightly hairy or smooth. Seed- 

 vessel about | in. long. 



Native of N. China; discovered early in the eighteenth century by Pere 

 d'Incarville, the Jesuit missionary ; introduced to cultivation about 1885. 

 Much confusion has existed as to the correct name of this shrub. The name 

 villosa has been given to the species above described as S. pubescens (see 

 Hooker in Bot. Mag., t. 7064), but an examination of Vahl's original specimen 

 shows that the plant latterly cultivated as S. Bretschneideri is the true 

 villosa. Vahl's description is extremely misleading, especially where he 

 describes the leaves as I in. long ! (they are occasionally 8 ins. long on 

 strong shoots). 



The beautiful lilac, perhaps the most robust of its section of the genus, 

 flowers at the end of May and early in June, after the flowers of the common 

 lilac and its varieties have faded. It is one of the most desirable of hardy 

 shrubs, vigorous 'in constitution, and free flowering. It differs from the 

 vulgaris group in forming a true terminal bud, and in ' flowering on the 

 current year's shoots. As will be noticed by the synonyms recorded above, 

 it has by different authors been referred to S. Emodi and S. Josikaea, to 

 both of which it is allied, but from both of which it differs in its larger, more 

 open inflorescence. 



S. VULGARIS, Linnczus. COMMON LILAC. 



A deciduous shrub or small tree, up to 20 ft. high, usually producing a 

 crowd of erect stems, but occasionally 'a single trunk over 2 ft. in girth, 

 clothed with spirally arranged flakes of bark; shoots and leaves quite smooth. 

 Leaves heart-shaped or ovate, 2 to 6 ins. long, from three-fourths to almost 

 as much wide near the base; stalk f to ij ins. long. Panicles pyramidal, 

 6 to 8 ins. long, usually in pairs from the terminal buds. On cultivated 

 improved varieties, panicles 12 to 18 ins. long are produced. Flowers 

 delightfully fragrant; corolla-tube \ to \ in. long, the lobes concave; calyx 

 and flower-stalks more or less furnished with minute gland-tipped down. 

 Seed-vessels smooth, f in. long, beaked. 



Native of the mountainous regions of E. Europe. Introduced to W. 

 Europe in the sixteenth century. It has been cultivated in England 

 for over three hundred years, and is now as characteristic a feature of village 

 scenery as almost any native shrub. 



The garden varieties of lilac, to be obtained at their best, must be given 

 generous treatment. They like a deep, rather stiff, but well-drained loam, 

 and should be mulched every second winter with rotted manure or bone 

 meal. An important item in the cultivation of the finer lilacs is the removal 

 of the flower-trusses as soon as they fade, so as to prevent the formation of 



