AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



537 



Syringa continued. 



rather obtuse, glabrous above, pilose on the principal nerves 

 beneath, /i. 3ft. to 6ft. North China, 1880. 



S. vulgaris (common).* Common Lilac ; Pipe-tree, fl. red, blue, 

 or white; corolla limb slightly concave. May. I. cordate or 

 ovate-cordate, highly glabrous, h. 8ft. to 20ft. or more. Persia, 

 Hungary, &c., 1597. Many beautiful varieties, of which the 

 following are a selection, are referred to this species. 



S. v. alba (white).* JL white ; thyrse ample, clustered. Branches 

 and buds greenish, h. 12ft to 15ft. There are two sub-varieties : 

 major, with larger, and plena, with double, flowers. 



S. v. oserulea (blue). JL slightly rosy, at length becoming blue ; 

 thyrse sparingly clustered, ft. 12ft A sub-vanety has the leaves 

 imperfectly variegated. 



S. v. grandiflora (large-flowered). A. red, large. 



S. v. purpurea (purple), fl. violet-purple ; thyrse ample, crowded. 

 Branches and buds purplish. 



S. v. violacea (violet). Scotch Lilac, fl. of a beautiful violet or 

 lilac ; thyrse sparingly clustered. Branches and buds purplish. 

 A. 10ft. (B. M. 183.) 

 GARDEN VARIETIES. A select list of garden varieties 



is given below : 



ALBA GRANDIFLORA, flowers white, large, one of the best ; ALBA 

 MAGNA, one of the finest whites; ALBA VIRGINALIS, flowers 

 snowy-white, trusses large, good for forcing; ALPHONSE 

 LAVALLEE, flowers sky-blue, shaded with violet, double, in very 

 large trusses; CHARLES X., flowers deep purplish-lilac when 

 grown outside, white when forced, very large trusses, extra 

 fine, one of the best for forcing ; DR. LINDLEY, flowers reddish- 

 lilac, in extremely large clusters; LE GAULOIS, flowers dark 

 peach-colour, with light centres, very double, in large, close 

 trusses ; LEMOINEI, flowers pale ashy-lilac, double ; MATHIEU 

 DE DOMBASLE, flowers reddish-mauve, double, trusses nearly 

 1ft. long ; MICHEL BUCHNER, flowers pale lilac, rose-margined, 

 double, in tine, erect, pyramidal trusses; RANUNCULIFLORA, 

 flowers dark red, becoming lilac, double ; RENONCULE, flowers 

 azure-mauve, strongly perfumed, double, very full ; RUBELLA 

 PL UN A, flowers vinous-red, changing to rosy- violet, double. 



SYRINGA, MOCK. A common name for Phila- 

 delphns coronarins (which see). 



SYRINGODEA (from syriggodes, fistular; in refer- 

 ence to the slender perianth tube). ORD. Iridece. A 

 small, South African genus (three species) of pretty, dwarf, 

 greenhouse herbs. Flower solitary in the spathe, sub- 

 sessile or shortly pedicellate ; perianth salver or funnel- 

 shaped, with a long and very slender tube and sub-equal, 

 spreading lobes; stamens affixed to the throat; spathes 

 sub-sessile within the leaves, narrow, hyaline. Leaves 

 filiform. Only the typical species, S. pulchella, has been 

 introduced. For culture, see Izia. 

 S. pulchella (rather pretty), fl., perianth tube cylindrical, IJin. 



to 2in. long, thickened above ; limb pale purple, the segments 



Syringodea continued. 



obovate-cuneate, deeply emarginate ; spathe valves lanceolate 

 iin. to Jin. long. Autumn. I. four to six, setaceous, falcate, 

 glabrous, 3in. to 4in. long. Bulb globose, thick, one-flowered. 

 South Africa, 1873. A very pretty plant. (B. M. 6072; F. d. S. 



SYRINGODEA (of Don). Included under Erica. 



SYRPHUS. A genus of two-winged flies (Diptera) 

 popularly known as " Hawkflies," because of their rapid, 

 darting flight. They are partial to settling on flowers; 

 and most of them are conspicuous because of the bright 

 spots of yellow, and the metallic greens and other hues, 

 that they bear. They mostly vary in size between a 

 common Housefly and a Bluebottle Fly ; and some of them 

 are a good deal the same shape as the latter insect. 

 Hawkflies are mostly smooth-bodied ; but, in several genera 

 allied closely to Syrphus (e.g., Volucella), the species are 

 hairy, and some look much like small Humble-bees. There 

 are numerous species in the genus Syrphus, a good many 

 of which are British. The larvse are of much assistance 

 to gardeners, by destroying the Aphides, or Green-fliea. 

 The larvte of the various species are much alike ; all of 

 them are fleshy, and taper from the hinder end to the 

 pointed anterior part, in which is situated the mouth. 

 The body is ringed, and the larva moves very much as 

 a leech does, by contracting and lengthening its body. 

 The female fly lays her eggs on twigs infested by 

 Aphides. The larvse, so soon as hatched, begin to feed 

 on these insects, seizing them one by one, holding each 

 in the air till sucked dry, and then seizing and sucking 

 another. When full-fed, the larvae fix themselves by the 

 tails, by means of a cement, to twigs of the plants, and, 

 usually in a few days, the flies emerge. They should 

 not be injured by gardeners, but should be protected as 

 far as possible. 



SYSTREFHIA. A synonym of Ceropegia (which 

 see). 



SYZYGIUM. Included under Eugenia (which 

 see). 



SZOWITZIA (named after M. Szovitz, a Hungarian 

 botanist and traveller, who died in 1831). ORD. Umbelli- 

 ferce. A monotypic genus. The species is a slender, 

 hardy, glabrous, annual herb, native of the South Caucasus 

 region. It has slender, compound umbels of white flowers, 

 and ternate, dissected leaves. Having little beauty, it ia 

 probably lost to cultivation. 



END OF VOLUME III. 



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