OLEACEiE— OLIVE FAMILY 



THE COMMON LILAC 



Syrfnga vulgaris. 



Syringa from siriux, the native name in Barbary. Lilac 

 is from lilag, the Persian word for a flower. The plant was 

 cultivated in England in i 597. 



The year that the Lilac was brought to America is 

 in doubt, but we know that as earl) 7 as 1652 it, together 

 with the Snowball, was the modest ornament of many 

 a cottage yard. When the tide of emigration set west- 

 ward the Lilac was the first flowering plant that 

 bloomed by the side of the log house in the frontier 

 settlement. Brought from New England along with 

 the household goods, it made one of the Penates of 

 the new home. At the time of fullest bloom and 

 greatest fragrance, women and children came to the 

 country church with lilac-spray in hand, and the fra- 

 grance of the flower mingled with the sound of prayer 

 and of sacred song. After a little the White Lilac 

 made its way into the new settlement, a welcome addi- 

 tion to be sure, but never for one moment a rival in 

 the hearts of the people of the flower the} 7 so deeply 

 loved. As the frontier line moved on toward the 

 setting sun, the Lilac went with it until there came a 

 day when it reached the region 0/ long, hot, dry 



406 



