Common Name: Lilac
Scientific Name: Syringa
Family: Oleaceae
Woodland Drive
Columbus, North Carolina
April 27, 2002
Cherished for big, flamboyant, usually fragrant flower clusters at branch tips. Best known are common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) and its many selections, but there are other species of great usefulness. All are medium-size to large shrubs with no special appeal when out of bloom. Individual flowers are tubular, flaring into four petal-like lobes (in single types) or into a clutch of "petals" (in double kinds). Floral show comes from number of small flowers packed into dense pyramidal to conical clusters. Depending on climate, bloom occurs from early spring (in the earliest kinds) to early summer, always after leaves are formed. Some forms bloom well with only light winter chill. Syringa laciniata and some selections described bloom well in the Lower South. Most lilacs won't bloom in the Coastal South and certainly not in the Tropical South. [Bender, Steve, Southern Living Garden Book, The. Oxmoor House, Inc., Book Division of Southern Progress Corporation, Birmingham, 1998]
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Alphabetical Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Family Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Genus Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z