in "lilacdom" 219 



this selection in its entirety would satisfy every en- 

 thusiast. 



But the Common Lilac and its very numerous 

 descendants do not exhaust Lilacdom. Far from it 

 — very far from it. There are other species and there 

 are hybrids of singular beauty and charm which 

 deserve wide recognition. Some blossom earlier 

 than the Common Lilac and its forms, and others 

 later; together they extend very considerably the 

 Lilac season. Further, it is in the hybridizing of 

 these species that advance in this useful and pleasing 

 class of plants must be looked for in the future. As 

 we shall see later a beginning has been made and our 

 gardens enriched thereby. 



Each succeeding year in the Arnold Arboretum 

 there is a close race between two Chinese species 

 (S. affinis and S. oblata), to be the first Lilac to blos- 

 som and usually the first-named wins. This has 

 white flowers and is very abundantly cultivated in 

 the gardens of Peking, and from there was introduced 

 into the Arnold Arboretum by Mr. S. T. Williams 

 in April, 1904. It is a tall bush of loose, irregular 

 habit and has thin branches and sweetly fragrant 

 flowers. The wild prototype of this Lilac was re- 

 cently discovered in northern China and named var. 

 Giraldii, after Pere G. Girald, an Italian priest of the 



