2 THE GREEN THUMB 
lilacs were ready to be introduced to 
the world’s gardens. One of the most 
beautiful double lilacs to come from 
their garden was named after the 
French lawyer, Leon Gambetta, who 
led the patriotic but untrained French 
army that tried so gallantly to defend 
that part of France. One of the finest 
single lilacs, Capitaine Baltet, was 
named for the son of his friend Charles 
Baltet, nurseryman of Troyes, who 
gave his life defending France in World 
War [, and another which some critics 
say is the handsomest of all single lilacs 
is named Marechal Foch. Victor 
Lemoine lived into his 89th year—and 
near the end, as his eyesight began to 
fail, it is said that his aged wife climbed 
the garden ladder to pollinize by hand 
the lilacs they never ceased to improve. 
Their son Emile Lemoine has carried on 
to excel the varieties that the experts 
thought were impossible of further 
improvement. 
“Lilac,” writes C. P. Halligan (4) of 
Michigan State College of Agriculture, 
‘is the quaint name of this quaint 
shrub from that ancient center of civil- 
ization, Eastern Europe, where this 
beautiful word of Persian origin means 
flower... . 
‘“Comely and vigorous in its youth, 
stately and elegant in its prime, perma- 
flowered forms have gradually arisen and been carefully selected and propagated... . 
The term ‘French hybrids’ has been loosely applied to the large group of varieties of the 
common lilac, probably because so many of them originated in France. Victor Lemoine 
and his associates have been more outstanding in introducing varieties of the common lilac 
than any others. However, a great many horticulturists have worked with the lilac, carefully 
selecting plants in France, Germany, Belgium and Holland. Comparatively recently some 
of them have originated in the United States and Canada ... .”’ Donald Wyman, “Just 
About Lilacs,” Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University Bulletin of Popular Information, 
May 20, 1936, 4:39-40. 
It is obvious that the “‘old-fashioned”? common lilac we remember in the gardens of our 
parents and grandparents were improved varieties that were a far cry from the wild Syringa 
vulgaris plants that grew in the mountains of Europe five centuries ago and which can still 
be found growing in the mountains of Bulgaria. The old-fashioned common lilacs still in 
commerce today probably are improved varieties brought to America from Europe by early 
settlers of a century or two ago. 
As to the untamed and unimproved wild species Syringa vulgaris, Ernest H. Wilson in 
“Aristocrats of the Garden” 1:214 says: “In the Arnold Arboretum may be seen growing 
specimens raised from seeds gathered from wild plants. They have narrow clusters of dull 
purplish flowers and are by no means attractive garden shrubs.”’ 
For a reader who may be curious about how ‘‘Syringa’’ became the generic name for 
Lilacs and why it is still sometimes erroneously applied to mock-oranges: ‘‘Syringa, modern 
Latin from Greek syrinx, a pipe. First applied about 1664 as a common name to the mock- 
orange because its branches were used for pipe stems (the pith is easily removed). Later 
used as a generic name for the Lilac. The mock-orange was named by Linnaeus Philadelphus 
Coronarius—the genius—for no obvious reason, while the specific name is a Latin word 
meaning belonging to a wreath or garland. This present usage of the genera names Syringa 
and Philadelphus is due to Linnaeus who included them in his ‘Species Plantarum,’ 1753 15.”, 
Hervey W. Shimer (Prof. Emerit. of Paleontology, Mass. Inst. of Tech.) entian and Sig- 
nificance of Plant Names,” p. 56, published by South Shore Nature Club Hingham, Mass., 
1943. ‘Vulgaris,’ of course, is a Latin word meaning common. . 
(4) C. P. Halligan, “Hardy Shrubs for Landscape Planting in Michigan,” Mich. St. Coll. Bull. 
152, Nov. 1935, verse by Violet Jacobs. 
