Syringa have a strong fragrance. Flowering varies between mid spring to early summer, depending on the species. The fruit is a dry, brown capsule, splitting in two at maturity to release the two winged seeds. The genus "Syringa" was first formally described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus and the description was published in "Species Plantarum". The genus name "Syringa" is derived from Ancient Greek word "syrinx" meaning "pipe" or "tube" and refers to the hollow branches of "S. vulgaris". The English common name "lilac" is from the French "lilac" via the Arabic ليلك ("lilak") from Persian نیلک ("nilak") meaning "bluish". Lilacs
Chemical garden Chemical garden A chemical garden is an experiment in chemistry usually performed by adding metal salts such as copper sulfate or cobalt(II) chloride to an aqueous solution of sodium silicate (otherwise known as waterglass). This results in growth of plant-like forms in minutes to hours. The chemical garden was first observed and described by Johann Rudolf Glauber in 1646. In its original form, the chemical garden involved the introduction of ferrous chloride (FeCl) crystals into a solution of potassium silicate (KSiO). The chemical garden relies on most transition metal silicates being insoluble in water and coloured. A metal salt such