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SYR 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



SYR 



4. Symphytum Asperrimum; Prickly Comfrey. Stems 

 prickly; leaves oval, acute, stalked, the floral ones opposite; 

 clusters in pairs. This species is the largest of the genus, 

 rising to five feet ; and is an hardy ornamental perennial. 

 Flowers of a rich blue colour. Native of Caucasus, flower- 

 ing through the summer. 



Symplocos; a genus of the class Monadelphia, order 

 Polyandria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 leafed, bell-shaped, five-cleft, small ; segments roundish, 

 erect. Corolla: petals five to ten, oblong, obtuse, erect, 

 spreading very much above. Stamina: fijamenta very many, 

 awl-shaped, flat, shorter than the petals, growing in four 

 rows to the tube of the corolla, the lower ones shorter; 

 antherse roundish. Pistil: ejermen superior, roundish ; style 

 filiform, length of the stamina; stigma headed, subtrifid. 

 Pericarp: drupe five-celled. Seeds: several. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix: five-cleft. Corolla: five-petalled, or 

 from five to ten, united at the base. Stamina: in four rows, 



growing to the tube of the corolla. Fruit: five-celled. 



The species are, 



1. Symplocos Martinicensis. Peduncles subracemed ; 

 leaves very smooth, crenulate. A branching tree twenty- 

 five feet high ; flowers white, smelling like those of Hawthorn. 

 Native of the woods of Martinico, flowering in November. 



2. Symplocos Ciponima. Peduncles many-flowered; leaves 

 entire, villose beneath. A middle-sized tree. The shoots 

 are very villose. Native of Guiana. 



3. Symplocos Arechea. Peduncles about five-flowered; 

 leaves serrate, almost naked. This is intermediate between 

 the two former. Native of the woods of Peru. 



4. Symplocos Octopetala. Flowers eight-petalled. A tree 

 upwards of twenty feet high, with smooth brittle branches ; 

 leaves bright green ; flowers the size of a lemon-blossom, 

 white, fragrant ; fruit the size of a filbert. Native of Jamaica. 



Syrian Rue. See Peganum. 



Syringa; a genus of the class Diandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leafed, tubu- 

 lar, small ; mouth four-toothed, erect, permanent. Corolla : 

 one-petalled, funnel-form; tube cylindric, very long; border 

 four-parted, spreading, and rolled back ; segments linear, 

 obtuse. Stamina: filamenta two, very short; antherse small, 

 obtuse, within the tube of the corolla. Pistil: germen ob- 

 long ; style filiform, length of the stamina ; stigma bifid, 

 thickish. Pericarp:- capsule oblong, compressed, acuminate, 

 two-celled, two-valved ; valves contrary to the partition. 

 Seeds : solitary, oblong, compressed, acuminate at both ends, 

 with a membranaceous edge. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix: four-toothed. Corolla: tubular, four-cleft. Capsule: 

 two-celled, two-valved. The species are, 



1. Syringa Vulgaris ; Common Lilac. Leaves ovate, cor- 

 date. This universally admired shrub grows to the height 

 of eighteen or twenty feet in good ground. It divides into 

 many branches, and the flowers are always produced at the 

 ends of the shoots of the former year, and below the flowers 

 other shoots come out to succeed them ; for that part upon 

 which the flowers stand, decays down to the shoots below, 

 every winter. The panicles of flowers grow erect, and being 

 intermixed with the green leaves have a fine effect ; and if 

 their fragrancy be also considered, this may be ranked among 

 the most beautiful decorations of our gardens, where it has 



been long cultivated. The flowers appear early in May, or 

 towards the end of April, and will continue three weeks when 

 the season is cool ; but soon fade in hot seasons. There are 

 three varieties, which not only differ in the colour of their 

 flowers, but also in that of their shoots and leaves : one has 

 white, another blue, and the Scotch Lilac (the most beautiful 

 of the three) purple flowers. This shrub is supposed to 

 grow naturally in some parts of Persia, but is so hardy as to 

 resist the greatest cold of this country. It may be propagated 

 by seeds, by suckers, or by layers. If the seeds be sown 

 soon after they are ripe, the plants will come up in the fol- 

 lowing spring, but as the roots send out great plenty of 

 suckers annually, few persons take the trouble of raising it 

 from seeds, though the plants raised from seed are less liable 

 to send out suckers, and generally flower in the third year. 

 It thrives best upon a light rich soil, such as the gardens 

 near London are for the most part composed of; and there 

 they grow to a much larger size, when they are permitted to 

 stand unremoved, than in any other part of England. In 

 strong loam, or chalk, they make no progress. If the suck- 

 ers be small when taken from the old plants, they should 

 be planted in a nursery in rows three feet asunder, and one 

 foot distance in the rows, where they may stand a year or two 

 to get strength, and then they should be removed to the 

 places where they are to remain. The best time to transplant 

 them is in autumn. There is a variety or two with blotched 

 leaves ; but these variations being the effect of weakness, when- 

 ever the shrubs become healthy their verdure returns again. 



2. Syringa Chinensis ; Chinese Lilac. Leaves ovate-lan- 

 ceolate ; stem shrubby. This is of a much humbler stature 

 than the first species : the panicles are more lax, and com- 

 posed of larger flowers. Hardy, flowering in May and June. 

 Supposed to be a native of China. 



3. Syringa Persica ; Persian Lilac. Leaves lanceolate. 

 This shrub is lower than the first species. The stems are 

 covered with a smooth brown bark; the branches are slender, 

 pliable, extend wide on every side, and frequently bend down 

 where they are not supported ; flowers in large panicles at 

 the end of the former year's shoots, of a pale blue colour, and 

 having a very agreeable odour ; they appear at the end of 

 May, soon after those of the common sort, but do not perfect 

 their seeds in England. There are two varieties, one with 

 almost white flowers, the other with flowers of a bright purple 

 colour. This shrub was formerly known among the nursery- 

 men by the name of Persian Jasmin. It is usually propa- 

 gated by suckers, which the roots send out in great plenty. 

 They should be carefully taken off from the old plant in 

 autumn, and planted in a nursery, in the same manner as 

 directed for the first ; where they may grow two years to 

 get strength, and then be transplanted whither they are 

 designed to remain. A better way of raising them is, by 

 laying down the young branches, which will be sufficiently 

 rooted in one year to transplant, and may then be treated in 

 the same way as the suckers. 



4. Syringa Suspensa. Leaves ovate, serrate, and ternate; 

 stem flexuose, ascending, and then hanging down ; branches 

 opposite, remote, divaricated, resembling the stem ; flowers 

 from opposite buds, solitary, two or three, yellow, on a 

 wrinkled peduncle. It begins to flower in April, and is often 

 cultivated for the elegance of its flowers. Native of Japan. 



