GOD MADE THEM ALL: THE COMMON LILAC
THE COMMON LILAC
The common lilac from southeastern Europe, is widely grown
in temperate areas of the world. There are several hundred named varieties with
single or double flowers in deep purple, lavender, blue, red, pink, white, and
pale creamy yellow. The common lilac reaches a height of approximately 6 metres
(20 feet) and produces many suckers (shoots from the stem or root). It may be
grown as a shrub or hedge or, by clearing away the suckers, as a small tree.
The weaker-stemmed Persian lilac, ranging from Iran to
China, droops over, reaching about 2 metres (6.5 feet) in height. Its flowers
usually are pale lavender, but there are darker and even white varieties.
Other decorative species are the dwarf Korean, or daphne,
lilac (S. pubescens), about 1.5 to 3 metres (about 5 to 10 feet) tall, with
lavender-pink flowers; the 4-metre- (13-feet-) tall nodding lilac (S.
komarowii) of China, with pinkish flowers; and the Hungarian lilac (S.
josikaèa), about 3 metres tall, with scentless bluish purple flowers.
The Chinese, or Rouen, lilac (S. chinensis) is a thickly
branched hybrid, a cross of the Persian and common lilacs.
THE LORD GOD MADE THEM ALL
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