Syringa reticulata, the Japanese tree lilac, is a species of flowering plant in the family Oleaceae. It is native to eastern Asia, and is grown as an ornamental in Europe and North America.

Description

It is a deciduous small tree growing to a height of 12 m, rarely to 15 m, with a trunk up to 30 cm, rarely 40 cm in diameter; it is the largest species of lilac, and the only one that regularly makes a small tree rather than a shrub. The leaves are elliptic-acute, 2.5-15 cm long and 1-8 cm broad, with an entire margin, and a roughish texture with slightly impressed veins. The flowers are white or creamy-white, the corolla with a tubular base 0.16–0.24" (4–6 mm) long and a four-lobed apex 0.12–0.24" (3–6 mm) across, and a strong fragrance; they are produced in broad panicles 5-30 cm long and 3-20 cm broad in early summer. The fruit is a dry, smooth, brown capsule (15–25 mm long), splitting in two to release the two winged seeds.

Distribution

Syringa reticulata is found in northern Japan (mainly Hokkaidō), northern China (Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan), Korea, and far southeastern Russia (Primorye).

Names

The Latin specific epithet reticulata means "netted".

Subspecies

There are three subspecies: