COMPLIMENTARY 
NEW SERIES VOL. Vlll 
NO. II 
ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
BULLETIN 
OF 
POPULAR INFORMATION 
JAMAICA PLAIN. MASS. JUNE 14. 1922 
Philadelphus, unfortunately called Syringa in popular language for 
Syringa is the scientific name of the Lilacs, is flowering rather earlier 
than usual this year. There is a good collection of these plants in the 
Arboretum, and the group is the largest here of the shrubs which 
flower in June. Philadelphus is a widely distributed genus with repre- 
sentatives in North America in the southern states, the southern Rocky 
Mountain region and the Pacific States, in Japan, Korea, China, on the 
Himalayas and in eastern Europe. The white and usually fragrant 
flowers are the only attraction of these plants; they are not interesting 
in habit; the leaves fall in the autumn without change of color, and 
the fruit, which is a dry capsule, is smaller than that of the Lilac. 
During the last twenty years several new species of this genus have 
been introduced into gardens from eastern Asia, and plant-breeders 
have, made more valuable contributions to few groups of garden plants 
than to Philadelphus. Most Syringas bloom freely every year; they 
require rich well drained soil, and the presence of lime in it has no 
bad effects on them. Better than most shrubs they can grow and flower 
in shade, and are therefore valuable for undergrowth in border planta- 
tions of trees. There are now in the collection some thirty species 
with a few varieties and several hybrids. 
The Mock Orange of all old gardens is Syringa coronarius, the east- 
ern European species. The plant was first cultivated in England be- 
fore the end of the sixteenth century and was probably one of the first 
garden shrubs brought to America by the English settlers. It is a 
medium- sized species often as broad as high. The flowers, too, are of 
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