Japanese Tree Lilac, Giant Tree Lilac               si-RING-ga re-tik-u-LA-ta

• Deciduous shrub or small tree, stiff spreading branches, 20-30 ft (6-9 m) high; bark smooth with prominent horizontal lenticels.  Leaves simple, opposite, broad-ovate to ovate, 5-15 cm long, about half as wide, dark green above, and grayish green and reticulate below.  Flowers white, in large clusters, showy, fragrance similar to that of privet flowers.  Fruit (capsule) warty, dry, oblong or ovoid, 2 cm long, green then yellow.
• Sun.  More or less trouble free.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 3      Native to Japan.
• Common culivars include:
• ‘Chantilly Lace’  -  has cream-yellow variegated leaves
• ‘Ivory Silk’  -  compact, oval growth habit
• ‘Summer Snow’  -  compact, large flower clusters
• Sometimes listed (Flora of China) as Syringa reticulata subsp. reticulata with lower taxa of:
• Syringa reticulata subsp. amurensis: petiole stoutish, 1-2 cm; capsule blunt at apex
• Syringa reticulata subsp. pekinensis: petiole slender, 1.5-3 cm; capsule acute to acuminate at apex
• reticulata: netted-veined, a reference to leaf veins.
• Corvallis: northeast corner Central Park.
• Oregon State Univ. campus: east side of McAlexander Fieldhouse.