Common Lilac facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Common Lilac
Flowers and leaves of Syringa vulgaris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Oleaceae
Genus:	Syringa
Species:	S. vulgaris
Binomial name
Syringa vulgaris L.

The Common Lilac (also known as Syringa vulgaris) is a beautiful flowering plant. It belongs to the olive family, called Oleaceae. Lilacs originally grew on rocky hills in the Balkan Peninsula. This area is in southeastern Europe.

People love lilacs for their sweet-smelling purple or pink flowers. These flowers bloom in the springtime. The lilac can grow as a large bush or a small tree. It is grown all over the world. You can now find lilacs growing wild in parts of Europe and North America. They usually grow near places where people live or used to live. Lilacs are not considered a plant that takes over other plants' spaces.

What Lilacs Look Like

The Common Lilac is a large deciduous shrub or a small tree. Deciduous means it loses its leaves every autumn. It can grow up to 6 or 7 meters (about 20 to 23 feet) tall. This plant often has many stems.

Lilacs can grow new shoots from their base or roots. These shoots are called suckers. Over many years, these suckers can form a small group of identical plants. The bark on young stems is smooth and grey. Older stems have grey-brown bark that is furrowed and flakes off.

The leaves of the lilac are simple. They are usually 4 to 12 cm (about 1.5 to 4.7 inches) long. They are also 3 to 8 cm (about 1.2 to 3.1 inches) wide. Lilac leaves are light green and shaped like an oval or a heart. Their veins look like a feather. The tip of the leaf is pointed, and the edges are smooth. Leaves grow in pairs opposite each other. Sometimes, they grow in groups of three.

Lilac flowers have a tube-like base. This part is called the corolla. It is 6 to 10 mm long. The top of the flower has four open lobes. These lobes are 5 to 8 mm across. Most lilac flowers are lilac (a light purple) or mauve. Sometimes, they can be white. The flowers grow in dense clusters at the end of branches. These clusters are called panicles. They are 8 to 18 cm (about 3 to 7 inches) long.

After the flowers, the plant produces fruit. The fruit is a dry, smooth, brown capsule. It is 1 to 2 cm long. This capsule splits open into two parts. Inside, it releases two winged seeds.

Images for kids

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  Flowers and heart-shaped leaves

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  S. vulgaris 'Alba'

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  S. vulgaris 'Charles Joly'

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  S. vulgaris 'Corondel'

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  S. vulgaris 'Etna'

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  S. vulgaris 'Mme. Francisque Morel'

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  S. vulgaris 'Maréchal Foch'

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  Wood of Syringa

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  Fasciation

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  Autumn foliage