Syringa reticulata, the Japanese tree lilac, is a species of flowering plant in the family Oleaceae native to eastern Asia, which is grown as an ornamental in Europe and North America.
It is a deciduous small tree growing to a height of, rarely to, with a trunk up to, rarely in diameter; it is the largest species of lilac, and the only one that regularly makes a small tree rather than a shrub. The leaves are elliptic-acute, long and broad, with an entire margin, and a roughish texture with slightly impressed veins. The flowers are white or creamy-white, the corolla with a tubular base 0.16–0.24" (4–6 mm) long and a four-lobed apex 0.12–0.24" (3–6 mm) across, and a strong fragrance; they are produced in broad panicles long and broad in early summer. The fruit is a dry, smooth, brown capsule (15–25 mm long), splitting in two to release the two winged seeds.[1] [2]
Syringa reticulata is found in northern Japan (mainly Hokkaidō), northern China (Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan), Korea, and far southeastern Russia (Primorye).[3] [4] [5]
The Latin specific epithet reticulata means "netted".[6]
There are three subspecies:[3]