220 ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN 



Roman Catholic Church, and reached us through V. 

 Lemoine et Fils in 1906. This has mauve-colored 

 flowers which open about the same time as the type. 

 The other species (S. oblata) is a sturdy and broad 

 shrub of good habit and has handsome leaves, thick 

 and leathery in texture, which in the autumn turn 

 to a deep, bronze-red or wine color. The flowers 

 are large, pale lilac, and very fragrant but unfortu- 

 nately they are often injured by late frosts. It was 

 introduced into England by Robert Fortune from 

 Shanghai about 1854. In Peking gardens it is much 

 cultivated and Dr. E. Bretschneider sent seeds from 

 Peking to the Botanical Garden, Petrograd, where 

 plants from this source flowered in 1888. 



The next Lilac to open is S. pubescens, also native 

 of northern China, and was introduced in 1882 by 

 Dr. E. Bretschneider who sent seeds to the Arnold 

 Arboretum, where it flowered for the first time in 

 1886. This is a free-growing and free-flowering 

 shrub with erect and rather slender stems, small 

 hairy leaves, and large clusters of pale lilac, fragrant, 

 long-tubed, and rather small flowers with dark violet 

 anthers and is among the most beautiful of all Lilacs. 

 These three Chinese species are the heralds of Lilac- 

 dom. In rapid succession follow the Common Lilac 

 with its numerous progeny and several other species. 



