Skip to main content

Service Notice

The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system and census were set to read-only mode on 1 October 2025. Taxonomic updates published since this time are not being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or Western Australia’s taxonomic names census (Nomos). Conservation listings displayed on Florabase may also be out of date. Please refer to DBCA’s Threatened species and communities webpage for the most recent Threatened and Priority Flora List, noting that recent taxonomic updates are similarly not included. Our database migration is moving to a staging phase. We thank you for your patience as we ensure the integrity of our biodiversity data, develop new workflows, and train staff to use the new systems. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

The notice period started at 12:00 pm on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 +08:00 and will end at 12:00 pm on Friday, 1 January 2027 +08:00.

Advanced Search

Syringa L.

Reference
Sp.Pl. [Linnaeus] 1:9 (1753)
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Family Oleaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Shrubs; deciduous. Leaves opposite; petiolate to subsessile; simple. Leaf blades dorsiventral; dissected, or entire; ovate; when dissected, pinnatifid; pinnately veined; cross-venulate. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire, or serrate, or dentate. Vegetative buds scaly. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Domatia recorded, or not recorded. Leaf anatomy. Hairs present; complex hairs present. Complex hairs peltate. Stem anatomy. Nodes unilacunar. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary, or aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in panicles. The terminal inflorescence unit (when flowers aggregated) cymose. Inflorescences terminal, or axillary. Flowers bracteate, or ebracteate; fragrant; regular; 4 merous; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present (around the gynoecium), or absent; extrastaminal. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 8; 2 -whorled; isomerous. Calyx present; 4; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous; sub- entire, or lobed; valvate; regular; persistent. Corolla present; 4; 1 -whorled; gamopetalous (funnel- to salver-shaped). Corolla lobes markedly shorter than the tube. Corolla valvate; regular; white, or purple, or red. Androecial members definite in number. Androecium 2. Androecial sequence not determinable. Androecial members adnate (to the corolla); free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 2; becoming exserted, or remaining included; reduced in number relative to the adjacent perianth; oppositisepalous; all alternating with the corolla members; filantherous, or with sessile anthers. Anthers dorsifixed, or basifixed; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse. Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious to eu-syncarpous; superior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular. Gynoecium median, or oblique, or transverse; stylate. Styles 1; apical. Stigmas 2 - lobed; dry type; papillate, or non-papillate; Group II type. Placentation axile. Ovules (1–)2(–50) per locule; pendulous, or ascending; with dorsal raphe; collateral; non-arillate; anatropous, or amphitropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule. Capsules loculicidal. Fruit 1–4 seeded. Seeds endospermic, or non-endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds winged. Embryo rudimentary at the time of seed release, or weakly differentiated to well differentiated. Cotyledons 2. Embryo achlorophyllous; straight. Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar, or cryptocotylar.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Adventive.