Syringa Syringa Syringa (lilac) is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering woody plants in the olive family (Oleaceae), native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and widely and commonly cultivated in temperate areas elsewhere. The genus is most closely related to "Ligustrum" (privet), classified with it in Oleaceae tribus Oleeae subtribus Ligustrinae. Lilacs are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including copper underwing, scalloped oak and Svensson's copper underwing. They are small trees, ranging in size from tall, with stems up to diameter. The leaves are opposite (occasionally in
Common name Linnaeus himself published a Flora of his homeland Sweden, Flora Svecica (1745), and in this, he recorded the Swedish common names, region by region, as well as the scientific names. The Swedish common names were all binomials (e.g. plant no. 84 Råg-losta and plant no. 85 Ren-losta); the vernacular binomial system thus preceded his scientific binomial system. Linnaean authority William T. Stearn said: The geographic range over which a particularly common name is used varies; some common names have a very local application, while others are virtually universal within a particular language. Some such names even apply across ranges of