''Syringa josikaea'', the Hungarian lilac, is a species of
lilac
''Syringa'' is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering plant, flowering woody plants in the olive family or Oleaceae called lilacs. These lilacs are native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and wid ...
, native to central and eastern
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, in the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
in
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
and western
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
.
[Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins .][Flora Europaea]
''Syringa josikaea''
/ref>
It is a deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
growing to a height of 2–4 m. The leaves
A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...
are elliptic-acute, 6–12 cm long, with a finely hairy margin. The flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...
s are dark pink, with a tubular base to the corolla 15 mm long with a narrow four-lobed apex 3–4 mm across, with a strong fragrance; they are produced in slender panicle
A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...
s up to 15 cm long in early summer. The fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
is a dry, smooth brown capsule, splitting in two to release the two winged seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
s.[Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan .][Plants for a Future]
''Syringa josikaea''
/ref>[Jacquin, Joseph Franz von, in Reichenbach, Heinrich Gustav. 1830. Iconographia Botanica seu Plantae Criticae 8: 32]
Cultivation and uses
Growing conditions allow for cool to temperate climate and are fully frost hardy. The plant also grows in full sun to semi shade.[ Despite its continental European origin, it has proved to be surprisingly successful when cultivated in the oceanic extremes of northwestern Europe on the ]Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
and in arctic northern Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
north to Kirkenes
Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркенес) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town ...
.[Højgaard, A., Jóhansen, J., & Ødum, S. (1989). A century of tree planting on the Faroe Islands. Ann. Soc. Sci. Faeroensis Supplementum 14.]
It has hybridised in cultivation with the closely related ''Syringa komarowii
''Syringa komarowii'' is a species of lilac native to central China, commonly called nodding lilac. It is native to the Provinces of Gansu, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan.
It is a shrub growing to 3–6 m tall, with erect branches. The leaves a ...
'' from China; the hybrid is named ''Syringa × josiflexa''.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q159135
josikaea
Flora of Europe
Flora of Hungary
Flora of Romania
Flora of Ukraine
Plants described in 1830
Garden plants
Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach