Syringa josikaea Syringa josikaea Syringa josikaea, the Hungarian lilac, is a species of lilac, native to central and eastern Europe, in the Carpathian Mountains in Hungary, Romania, and western Ukraine. It is a deciduous shrub growing to a height of 2–4 m. The leaves are elliptic-acute, 6–12 cm long, with a finely hairy margin. The flowers 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 panicles up to 15 cm long in early summer. The fruit is a dry, smooth brown
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