OLIVE FAMILY 



summers, and at this point the Lilac faltered in its 

 march. For this is a native of the highlands ; it loves 

 cool, moist summers, and although centuries of culti- 

 vation have inured it to many changes, it has not yet 

 learned to flourish in heat and drought. Its native 

 land is somewhat in doubt, but it is accredited in the 

 books to the mountainous region of central Europe 

 from Piedmont to Hungary. It was made known to 

 European botanists by a plant brought from Constan- 

 tinople to Vienna toward the end of the sixteenth 

 century. Extremel}^ showy, of eas}' culture and per- 

 fectly hardy, the shrub spread rapidly throughout the 

 gardens of Europe. In the survey of the royal gar- 

 dens of Nonsuch, planted in the time of Henry VIII., 

 there is mentioned a fountain " set round with six 

 lilac trees, which bear no fruit, but only a very 

 pleasant ;;mell." 



The well known White Lilac is but a variety of the 

 Common Lilac. The Persian Lilac, Syriuga pcrsica, 

 is native to the region extending from Caucasus to 

 Afghanistan, and was brought into Europe in 1640. 

 Its flowers are rose-lilac, deliciously fragrant and 

 borne in open thyrses. This appears in a white va- 

 riety ; also in one with cut leaves, Syringa laciniata. 



A third species, long known, is Josika's Lilac, Syringa 

 Josikcea, so named in honor of the Baroness Von Jo- 

 sika, who discovered the plant in Transylvania. It is 

 an upright shrub with spreading branches and purple 

 twigs ; the leaves are elliptic-lanceolate, about three 

 inches long, bright shining green above and whitish 

 beneath. The flowers are bluish purple. 



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