Syringa oblata Syringa oblata Syringa oblata is a species in the genus "Syringa", in the family Oleaceae. It is also known as early blooming lilac or broadleaf lilac. Similar to "Syringa vulgaris", but flowers earlier and has very different leaves. Most commonly seen lilac species in China. Gravelly mountains, roadsides, stream banks, thickets, valleys, and woods. 100-2600m altitude. China: Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, and northwest Sichuan provinces. Korea: Throughout. Widely cultivated in most areas of China. Many hybrids are cultivated throughout Europe and the Americas, including numerous cultivars of "S." X "hyacinthiflora". "Oblata"
Flowering Orchards new, now the orchards have almost finished blossoming." Flowering trees represented a source of spiritual renewal for Van Gogh; in 1883 he had written of the symbolism of the flowering tree, seeing the evidence of rebirth like the "man who finally produces something poignant as the blossom of a hard, difficult life, is a wonder, like the black hawthorn, or better still the gnarled old apple tree which at certain moments bears blossoms which are among the most delicate and virginal things under the sun." In 1888 Van Gogh became inspired in southern France and began the most productive period