463 DECIDUOUS SHRUBS. 



The Common Purple Lilac. S. vulgaris. — This is almost 

 too well known to need description. Fig. 157 gives its character- 

 istic habit in four to six years after planting, and 

 Fig. 156 shows the noble development it makes 

 when allowed ample room for extension in a 

 rich soil. Its blossoms are the standard lilac 

 color, and when the blossoms of the other pur- 

 ple-flowered lilacs are described as more or less 

 purple, the comparison is always with this one. 

 Height ten to twelve feet. 

 The Beautiful Lilac. 5. speciosa. — This is one of the small- 

 est bushes among the lilacs, of short stout growth, and robust ap- 

 pearance. It forms a compact bush, from five to eight feet in 

 height. Flowers large, in compact spikes, of a purplish-red color. 

 One of the best in every respect. 



The Josika Lilac. S.josikea. — Also called the chionanthus- 

 leaved lilac, from the strong resemblance its leaves bear to those of 

 the chionanthus. It is quite different in foliage and general appear- 

 ance from the other lilacs. A native of Transylvania, growing in 

 shady places near the water. Leaves of a waxy appearance and 

 wavy surface. An upright grower, and will probably bear to be 

 grown as a tree. It holds its foliage of good color quite late in the 

 fall, and blooms one month later than other lilacs. Flowers deep 

 purple in June. Height ten to twelve feet. 



The following old sorts are still the most valuable of the small- 

 leaved species variously known as Persian, Chinese, or Siberian 

 lilacs. Their growth is more slender and less rigid than the pre- 

 ceding. 



The Persian White Lilac. S. persica alba. — This forms a 

 large spreading shrub, whose branches with age bend with a fine 

 curve so that their tips touch the ground when loaded with blos- 

 soms. Flowers a delicate lavender-white in May. 



The Common Persian Lilac. S. persica.— ^ams as preced- 

 ing, except that its flowers are a dark lilac color. The spikes of 

 flowers are larger than those of the common large-leaved lilac, and 

 looser. Though the growth of this species is every way more deli- 

 cate than the common lilac, it forms at maturity a broader bush. 



