Index / Search / Syringa vulgaris

§1 Plant

Syringa vulgaris L.

vernacular common lilac — species · Oleaceae


USDA
SYVU
GBIF
5415039
Rank
species
common lilac (Syringa vulgaris)
Platephotograph · Игорь ПоспеловCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Oleaceae Hoffmanns. & Link
Genus
Syringa
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
§2b

County-level range

· 2 counties across 1 state
Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 2 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
Medium
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
High
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
110 min.
Precipitation
30–50 in/yr
pH range
5.8–7.8
Root depth
14 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
20 ft
Height @ 20 y
20 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Moderate
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
90,720
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 2 counties across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SYVU ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5415039 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z