Syringa reticulata Syringa reticulata Syringa reticulata (Japanese tree lilac; ; ) is a species of Lilac, native to eastern Asia: in northern Japan (mainly Hokkaidō), northern China (Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan), Korea, and far southeastern Russia (Primorye). "Syringa reticulata" is a deciduous small tree growing to a height of 39' (12 m), rarely to 49' (15 m), with a trunk up to 11.8" (30 cm), rarely 15.7" (40 cm) diameter; it is the largest species of lilac, and the only one that regularly makes a small tree rather than a shrub. The leaves are
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