Syringa

Syringa

Syringa vulgaris, common lilac
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Oleaceae
Tribe:	Oleeae
Subtribe:	Ligustrinae
Genus:	Syringa L.
Synonyms^[1]
Lilac Mill. Liliacum Renault Busbeckia Hécart, nom. inval. Ligustrina Rupr.

Syringa is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering woody plants in the olive family or Oleaceae^[1] called lilacs. These lilacs are native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and widely and commonly cultivated in temperate areas elsewhere.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

The genus is most closely related to Ligustrum (privet), classified with it in Oleaceae tribus Oleeae subtribus Ligustrinae.^[6]

Lilacs are used as food plants by the larvae of some moth species, including lilac leaf mining moth,^[7] privet hawk moth,^[8] copper underwing, scalloped oak and Svensson's copper underwing.

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Transcription

Lilac. Syringa vulgaris. Lilacs are a very evocative, aromatic plant in the garden. In April and May here in New Haven there's nothing like the Lilacs coming into bloom and spreading their scent throughout the garden. This is a variety that has the typical light blue, light purple lilac flowers. They run a range from the dark purple to a white, with some mauve and almost red colors. Lilacs are all members of olive family, Oleaceae and it shares that family heritage with the Ash tree. Therein lies a couple of the problems with the Lilac. The Ash tree borer and the Lilac borer are insects that attack Lilacs and Ash trees and these insects particularly feed on the larger wood. There is a way to manage that, we'll talk about. The Lilac again blooms in mid-Spring, in April and May and then really there is not much to recommend it for the rest of the year. It stays green through the Summer, no Fall color to speak of. It is really a one season plant, but during that season, you just can't beat it. It is so aromatic and evocative. Success with Lilac depends really on full sun to light shade. They also don't want to be in sopping wet soil, so well-drained soils. It doesn't have to be particularly rich, but you want to plant them in full sun if you've got it. They are great in a shrub border, as we have here at the garden. They can also be an accent plant. You can plant them near the deck or patio for that wonderful Spring aroma. The name Lilac actually goes back through old English, back through the French, back to Persian and actually, Sanskrit. It means a certain color of blue. The Arabic name Lilak is a particular blue that has come to us through the ages, through the name of this flower. The botanical name Syringa comes from the Greek, syrinx, and that means a hollow tube, referring to the stems of the plant. The smaller, woody stems of this plant that could be hollowed out and could be used as whistles or pipes. One of the ways to handle those insect pests that I mentioned the Lilac borer and the Ash borer, are they attack the older, larger pieces of the stem. So with Lilacs, for a couple of reasons, you want to do what is called rejuvenation pruning. That is where you get into the middle of the plant, at the bottom and you take out the oldest canes. So on this plant you can see, I'm touching next year's pruning. I will be taking that all the way back to the ground level. These smaller canes that I am holding back, these are the ones that will be flowering next year. Lilacs flower on second year wood. So you don't want to take all of the canes out, you'll lose the flowering for a year. What that kind of pruning does for you is that it helps keep the borers away, because they are attracted to the larger wood and it also makes it so that the flowers of the Lilac are right at nose level, as opposed to higher up. The Lilacs can actually get 15 to 18 feet tall. And I'll tell you having a Lilac at nose height is really a great advantage. Lilac. A wonderful Spring blooming plant.

Description

They are small trees, ranging in size from 2 to 10 metres (6 ft 7 in to 32 ft 10 in) tall, with stems up to 20 to 30 centimetres (7.9 to 11.8 in) diameter. The leaves are opposite (occasionally in whorls of three) in arrangement, and their shape is simple and heart-shaped to broad lanceolate in most species, but pinnate in a few species (e.g. S. protolaciniata, S. pinnatifolia).^[9]

Flowers

The flowers are produced in spring, each flower being 5 to 10 millimetres (0.20 to 0.39 in) in diameter with a four-lobed corolla, the corolla tube narrow, 5 to 20 millimetres (0.20 to 0.79 in) long; they are monoecious, with fertile stamens and stigma in each flower. The usual flower colour is a shade of purple (often a light purple or "lilac"), but white, pale yellow and pink, and even a dark burgundy color are also found.

The flowers grow in large panicles, and in several species have a strong fragrance. Flowering varies between mid spring to early summer, depending on the species.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[10] One particular cultivar, trademark Bloomerang, first blooms in spring and then again late summer through fall.^[11]^[12]

Fruit

The fruit is a dry, brown capsule, splitting in two at maturity to release the two winged seeds.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[10]

Etymology

The English common name "lilac" is from the French lilac^[10]^[13]^[14] via the Arabic: لِيلَك, romanized: līlak from Persian: ليلنج, romanized: lilanj meaning the indigo plant^[15] or نیلک nilak meaning "bluish";^[13] both lilanj and nilak come from Persian نیل nīl "indigo" or نیلي nili "dark blue".^[15]

Taxonomy

The genus Syringa was first formally described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus and the description was published in Species Plantarum.^[16]^[17] The genus name Syringa is derived from Ancient Greek word syrinx meaning "pipe" or "tube" and refers to the hollow branches of S. vulgaris.^[18]^[19]

Homonym Syringa Tourn. ex Adans. is a heterotypic synonym of Philadelphus.^[16]

Cultivation and uses

Lilacs are popular shrubs in parks and gardens throughout the temperate zone, and several hybrids and numerous cultivars have been developed. The term French lilac is often used to refer to modern double-flowered cultivars, thanks to the work of prolific breeder Victor Lemoine. Lilacs grow most successfully in well-drained soils, particularly those based on chalk.^[20] They flower on old wood, and produce more flowers if unpruned. If pruned, the plant responds by producing fast-growing young vegetative growth with no flowers, in an attempt to restore the removed branches. Lilac bushes can be prone to powdery mildew disease.

Lilac wood is not commonly used or commercially harvested due to the small size of the tree.^[21] It is a relatively hard wood, with an estimated Janka hardness of 2,350 lbf (10,440 N), and is reportedly good for woodturning^[21] The sapwood is typically cream-coloured and the heartwood can have various streaks of brown and purple.^[21]

Species have been historically used in various traditional medicines in Asia for treating ailments including cough, diarrhea, acute icteric hepatitis, vomiting, abdominal pain, and bronchitis.^[22] Compounds isolated from species of Syringa include phenylpropanoids such as syringin and iridoids such as oleuropein.^[22] Substituent compounds, such as iridoids, as well as crude extracts from Syringa plants have been shown to have to have effects including antitumor, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antifungal activities in pharmacological studies.^[23]

Symbolism

Lilacs are often considered to symbolize first love.^[24]

In Greece, Macedonia, Lebanon, and Cyprus, the lilac is strongly associated with Easter time because it flowers around that time; it is consequently called paschalia.

In the poem When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd, by Walt Whitman, lilacs are a reference to Abraham Lincoln.

The music-hall song by Ivor Novello, We'll Gather Lilacs, first performed in 1945, speaks of the longing of two lovers to be reunited in a traditional English rural setting. It has since been recorded and performed by numerous artists.^[25]

Syringa vulgaris is the state flower of New Hampshire, because it "is symbolic of that hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State."^[26]

Festivals

Several locations in North America hold annual Lilac Festivals, including:

The Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts, which celebrates "Lilac Sunday" every May. The Arboretum shows off its collection of over 422 lilac plants, of 194 different varieties.^[27] Lilac Sunday is the only day of the year when picnicking is allowed on the grounds of the Arboretum.
Lombard, Illinois, called the "Lilac Village", which has an annual lilac festival and parade in May. The village also contains Lilacia Park, a garden with over 200 varieties of lilacs, as well as over 50 kinds of tulips.
Mackinac Island, in Michigan, which celebrates a weeklong lilac festival and lilac parade each June
Rochester, New York, which has held its Lilac Festival since 1898, hosts the longest-running festival in North America. Held in Highland Park, this celebration features 1,200 shrubs, representing over 500 varieties, many of which were developed in Rochester. It is the largest collection of varieties at any single place.
The Royal Botanical Gardens near Hamilton, Ontario, which holds its Lilac Celebration each May
Spokane, Washington, known as the "Lilac City", which holds an annual lilac festival and lilac parade.
Franktown, Ontario, Canada, known as the Lilac Capital of Canada, holds an annual festival. With drystone masonry demonstrations and horse pulled wagon rides. ^[28]
Calgary, Alberta, Canada holds an annual one-day Lilac Festival, which is primarily a street festival.

Species

Species and subspecies currently accepted as of July 2016:^[16]^[3]

Syringa emodi Wall. ex Royle – Himalayan lilac - northern India, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal
Syringa josikaea J.Jacq. ex Rchb.f. – Hungarian lilac - Carpathian Mountains of Romania and Ukraine
Syringa komarowii C.K.Schneid. – nodding lilac - Gansu, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan
Syringa oblata Lindl. – early blooming lilac or broadleaf lilac - Korea, Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan
- Syringa oblata subsp. dilatata – Korean early lilac - Nakai - Korea, Jilin, Liaoning
Syringa pinetorum W.W.Sm. – Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan
Syringa pinnatifolia Hemsl. – Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan
Syringa pubescens Turcz. – Korea, Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Jilin, Liaoning, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan
Syringa reticulata (Blume) H.Hara (syn. S. pekinensis) – Japanese tree lilac - Primorye, Japan, Korea, Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan
Syringa tomentella Bureau & Franch. – Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan
Syringa villosa Vahl – villous lilac - Primorye, Korea, Hebei, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning
Syringa vulgaris L. – common lilac - native to Balkans; naturalized in western and central Europe, and many scattered locations in North America^[29]

Hybrids

S. × chinensis (S. vulgaris × S. persica)
S. × diversifolia (S. oblata × S. pinnatifolia)
S. × henryi (S. josikaea × S. villosa)
S. × hyacinthiflora (S. oblata × S. vulgaris)
S. × josiflexa (S. josikaea × S. komarowii)
S. × laciniata (S. protolaciniata × S. vulgaris) – cut-leaf lilac or cutleaf lilac
S. × persica L. (syn Syringa protolaciniata) – Persian lilac - Afghanistan, Pakistan, western Himalayas, Gansu, Qinghai
S. × prestoniae (S. komarowii × S. villosa)
S. × swegiflexa (S. komarowii × S. sweginzowii)