LILAC. 253 



A mournful sound, like one that did complain. 

 Rapt with the music ' Yet, oh sweet !' said he, 

 e Together ever thus converse will we/ 

 Then of unequal wax-join'd reeds he framed 

 This seven-fold pipe : of her 'twas Syrinx named*." 



SANDYS' s OVID, Book 1. 



Lilac, or Lilag, is a Persian word, signifying a flower. 



Of the Common Lilac there are three varieties: the 

 Blue, the Violet, and the White. The second is generally 

 known by the name of the Scotch Lilac : this has the fullest 

 flowers. 



" The Lilac," says Mr. Martyn, " is very commonly seen 

 in English gardens, where it has long been cultivated as 

 a flowering shrub. It is supposed to grow naturally in 

 some parts of Persia; but it is so hardy as to resist the 

 greatest cold of this country. 



" The Scotch Lilac," continues he, " is the most beau- 

 tiful of the three ; and is probably so called because it was 

 first mentioned in the catalogue of the Edinburgh garden." 

 Gerarde and Parkinson cultivated the Blue and the 

 White kinds under the name of Pipe-tree, or Pipe-privet. 

 Gerarde says, " I have them growing in my garden in 

 great plenty." (1597.) This shows it to have been at that 

 time comparatively rare ; and the beautiful Lilac now so 

 common in our gardens and shrubberies was far more so. 



The flowers appear towards the end of April, or early 

 in May, and usually last about a month. Although called 

 a shrub, the Lilac will grow to the height of eighteen or 

 twenty feet ; and the leaves growing very luxuriantly, it 

 may be considered as a tree of very respectable dimensions. 



The species of Lilac best adapted for pots is the Persian, 

 which seldom exceeds six feet in height. The flowers blow 



* The Syrinx is still a pastoral instrument in Syria. 



