Lilac

Manchurian lilac, ‘Miss Kim', Syringa patula

Japanese Tree Lilac, Syringa reticulata

“The modern garden forms we grow are of Chinese origin and named for the wandering Jesuit priest, Pere Armond David (1826-1900), who had the singular privilege of being assigned the task of studying the natural history of China during the middle years of the 19th century. He first encountered the plant in southwestern China in 1869...

The introduction of living plants to the West began with Russian explores in the 19th century. But modern garden forms are primarily from material collected by E. H. Wilson between 1900 and 1908 in western China while traveling for the Veitch nursery in London and the Arnold Arboretum. Wilson, in his 1913 A Naturalist in Western China, describes his trip into northwestern Szechuan Province by stating "Summer Lilac was a wonderful sight - thousands of bushes, each one with masses of violet-purple flowers, delighting the eye on all sides".

From: Gerald Klingaman, retired 
Extension Horticulturist - Ornamentals