60 GARDEN FLOAVERS. 



rich neigliboiir. The old name of this plant 

 was pipe-tree, and pipe-privet, by either of 

 which it was known to the botanists of queen 

 EUzabeth's days ; and it was called privet be- 

 cause it was usually grafted on stocks of that 

 shrub, while its name of pipe originated with 

 the Turks, as the stems were often used by 

 them, for their long pipes. It is called in 

 Barbaiy by the name of sirinx, and hence we 

 have probably the name of syringa. This 

 flower is a native of Persia and other parts of 

 tlie east, as well as of Hungary and the shores 

 of the Danube. The Turks, who, in addition 

 to the love of flowers which they possess in 

 common with all the people of the east, have 

 an enthusiastic regard for a flowering tree, were 

 the 23eopIe from whom we first received this 

 beautiful addition to our gardens. It was 

 brought from the gardens of Constantinople, 

 in the sixteenth century, by the ambassador 

 Busbequius, and planted in the gardens of 

 Vienna. Being a plant which will bear a con- 

 siderable degree of smoke, it was soon a 

 favourite in the London gardens ; nor is any 

 shrub or tree more common than this, now, in 

 the plots which he around the dwellings in the 

 suburban villages of our metropolis, where it 

 flourishes exceedingly well. Even the courts 

 and back yards of the crowded streets are 

 often enlivened by its green leaves, though its 

 purple clusters refuse to bud in an atmosphere 

 so laden with fog and soot. It probably was 

 introduced during the reign of Henry vin., 



