306 LI. OLEINEiE. [Syringa. 



3. SYRINGA, Linn. 



Shrubs or small trees, with entire or pinnatifid deciduous leaves ; flowers 

 in a terminal thyrsus, consisting of numerous compound trichotomous 

 cymes. Calyx more or less persistent, campanulate, 4-toothed, teeth 

 often small. Corolla hypocrateriform ; tube longer than calyx, limb 4- 

 lobed, the lobes valvate in bud. Stamens 2, inserted on the corolla-tube. 

 Ovary 2-celled, 2 ovules in each cell; stigma bifid. Fruit a coriaceous 

 capsule, more or less cylindrical, 2-celled, 2-valved, dehiscing loculicidally, 

 the valves septiferous. Seeds pendulous in pairs from the top of each 

 cell, with a narrow wing all round. Embryo straight in a fleshy albu- 

 men, cotyledons foliaceous, radicle superior. 



Leaves elliptic - oblong, pale beneath, 3-5 in. long, young parts pu- 

 bescent 1. S. Emodi. 



Leaves lanceolate elliptic or pinnatifid, 1-2 in. long ; wholly glab- 

 rous ............ 2. iS'. persica. 



1. S. Emodi, Wall. ; Eoyle 111. t. 65. Vern. Ban phunt, ban dakhur, 

 bancliir, razli, juari, rangkrun, rangchui, kchimu, lolti, leila, shafri, 

 shapri, duden, chilanghati, Pb. 



A large deciduous shrub ; glabrous, inflorescence only and young leaves 

 pubescent. Leaves elliptic- oblong, entire, base acute, apex short-acumi- 

 nate, pale beneath, blade 3-5 in., petiole 1 in. long ; main lateral nerves 

 6-8 pair, arcuate. Flowers purplish lilac, scented ; thyrsus pyramidal, 3-6 

 in. long, with lanceolate deciduous bracts, the lower branches in the axils 

 of leaves, flowers on short pedicels, crowded in short compact cymes. 

 Calyx-teeth triangular, often very short. Corolla-lobes linear- oblong, 

 generally with an inflexed point : tips of anthers exserted. Capsule 

 cylindrical, acute at both ends, f in. long, often curved. 



Safedkoh, trans-Indus 9000 ft. Abundant in many parts of N.W. Himalaya, 

 from the Indus to the Sarda, ascending to 11,000 ft., in the outer moister ranges, 

 as well as in the inner more arid tracts (Lahoul). Hardy in England. A culti- 

 vated form raised from Himalayan seed, is described and figured in Bot. Reg. 

 vol. 31, tab. 6, with white flowers, and a heavy unpleasant smell. Fl. May- 

 Aug.; fr. Sept.-Oct. Attains 8-10 ft., the bark of branches is warted with 

 large whitish lenticels. Wood white, even- and close-grained. Leaves used 

 as fodder for goats. 



2. S. persica, Linn. Bot. Mag. t. 486. Vern. Hidsmin, Kashmir. 



A glabrous shrub. Leaves elliptic lanceolate or pinnatifid, 1-2 in. long. 

 Flowers white or purplish lilac, scented, thyrsus narrow pyramidal, 6-8 

 in. long, with linear bracts ; flowers in regular, trichotomous, but often 

 incomplete cymes, the terminal on pedicels -J-J- in. long, the lateral often 

 subsessile. Limb of corolla spreading, lobes ovate or obovate, acute, 

 edges thickened. Capsule cylindrical, J in. long. 



Cultivated in Kashmir and at Lahore. Found (apparently wild, with entire 

 leaves) by Dr Stewart near Kanigorum, the chief village of Waziristan, on the 

 eastern flank of the Suliman range, at 8000 ft. Believed to be indigenous in 

 Persia, whence it has been introduced to Europe ; hardy in England, and grown 



