The Japanese Tree Lilac 
(.Syringa Japonic a) 
By W. C. EGAN 
of the lilac. It is also singular, when one takes 
into consideration the world-wide cultivation of the 
lilac since it was introduced to cultivation from Hun¬ 
gary and Persia in 1597, that it possesses so few 
common names. Where the word lilac sprang 
from, or what it means, I have been unable to ascer¬ 
tain, but the one additional name, pipe tree, comes 
from the fact that its long straight stems filled with 
medulla are easily converted into pipe stems, in 
fact the generic term syringa means a pipe. 
Up to within a 
comparatively few 
years we had to con¬ 
tent oursel ves with 
the old-fashioned li¬ 
lac, Syringa vulgaris, 
and the Persian form; 
hut of late many new 
forms of Syringa vul¬ 
gar 1 s, in various 
tints, have appeared, 
as well as many new 
species. 
One of the best of 
the latter is Syringa 
Japonica, the Japan¬ 
ese tree lilac. 
1 he common lilac 
may be grown in tree 
form by proper ma¬ 
nipulation, but this 
species grows natur¬ 
ally, f o r m i n g a low 
spreading tree event- 
11 a 11 y reaching a 
height of thirty feet, 
bearing in late sum¬ 
mer creamy white 
panicles often a foot 
long and as broad. 
In buying new va¬ 
rieties of the common 
form get them “ on 
their own roots,” as 
then the natural in¬ 
crease by suckers will 
be true to name. They 
are often grafted on 
the common lilac or 
the privet. 
THE JAPANESE TREE LILAC 
I N the nomenclature of our gardens many confu¬ 
sing names appear, and often many plants of 
varied genera bear the same common name. 
The name daisy is applied to over eleven dis¬ 
tinct plants, all of different genera, but all bearing a 
daisy-like flower. 
The queerest mix up, however, in common names 
is that the well-known mock orange ( Philadelphia 
coronarius ) has for one of its common names the 
word syringa, which in reality is the botanical name 
*95 
