Lilacs and Privets 



i 



The Persian Lilac (Syringa persica), is a much 

 smaller shrub, not usually exceeding six or seven feet 

 in height, but very attractive in its neatness and com- 

 pactness. Its trusses of flowers are of typical lilac hue 

 and most fragrant ; they are, however, only two to 

 three inches long, and hence are considerably less than 

 those of the Common Lilac. In one variety the 

 flowers are white. The leaves are usually lance-shaped, 

 though the variety S. laciniata has them cut down 

 to the midrib into a number of lobes. This species 

 appears to have been brought into England in a 

 cultivated form via Persia and India about 1640. 

 Its native home is in Afghanistan, and it was found 

 wild there by Dr. Aitchison of the Afghan Boundary 

 Commission in 1879. During centuries of cultivation 

 it has departed somewhat from the wild type. 



The Rouen Lilac (Syringa chinensis) is a hybrid 

 between the Common Lilac and the Persian Lilac, and 

 is so called because it was raised in the Botanical 

 Garden at Rouen by M. Varin the Director, towards 

 the close of the eighteenth century. Its first appear- 

 ance in this country was in 1795. It is, however, 

 pointed out that this Lilac has also been in common 

 cultivation in China for over a century, but there is 

 no reason why the Chinese should not have produced 

 this particular hybrid as well as the western gardener. 

 It possesses characteristics intermediate between the two 



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