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
Bartram's Garden facade between 1758–1770. The house still stands, as does his original garden (circa 1728) and greenhouse (1760). Three generations of the Bartram family continued the garden as the premier collection of North American plant species in the world. The current collection contains a wide variety of native and exotic species of herbaceous and woody plants. Most were listed in the Bartrams' 1783 broadside "Catalogue of American Trees, Shrubs and Herbacious Plants" and subsequent editions. The garden also contains three notable trees: Bartram's Garden is the oldest surviving botanic garden in the United States. John Bartram (1699–1777), the well-known early American