#221 (Sh.21) COMMOM LILAC VARIETY
Syringa vulgaris

Planted: 1932
This shrub is at the northern end of the Syringa Avenue.
Purchased from James Smith (Scotland Nurseries), Tansley, Matlock, Derbyshire in 1932.
A cultivar, which is either ‘Maurice de Vilmorin’ or ‘President Grevy’, both very similar.
Auguste Louis Maurice Lévêque de Vilmorin (1849 – 1918), known as Maurice de Vilmorin, was a French Botanist.
François Judith Paul Grévy (1807 – 1891), known as Jules Grévy, was a French lawyer and politician who served as President of France from 1879 to 1887.
The species is native to the Bulkan Peninsular, where it grows on rocky hills. Grown for its scented flowers, the large shrub or small tree is widely cultivated and has been naturalized in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. It is not regarded as an aggressive species. It is found in the wild in widely scattered sites, usually in the vicinity of past or present human habitations.
Introduced in 1753.
Most garden plants of Syringa vulgaris are cultivars. Between 1876 and 1927, the nurseryman Victor Lemoine of Nancy, France, introduced over 153 named cultivars, of which this is one. Many are considered classics and are still available.