Syringa Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", by Walt Whitman, lilacs are a reference to Abraham Lincoln. "Syringa vulgaris" is the state flower of New Hampshire, because it "is symbolic of that hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State" (New Hampshire Revised Statute Annotated (RSA) 3:5). Several locations in North America hold annual Lilac Festivals, including: Species and subspecies currently accepted as of July 2016: 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
Rheum (plant) represented by about 60 extant species. Among species found in the wild, those most commonly used in cooking are the garden rhubarb ("R. rhabarbarum") and the so-called false rhubarb ("R. rhaponticum"), which is actually a true rhubarb. The many varieties of cultivated rhubarb more usually grown for eating are recognised as "Rheum" × "hybridum" in the Royal Horticultural Society's list of recognised plant names. The drug rheum is prepared from the rhizomes and roots of another species, "R. officinale" or medicinal rhubarb. This species is also native to Asia, as is the turkey rhubarb ("R. palmatum"). Another species, the Sikkim