Curtis Botanical – Plate 8869 – Nodding Lilac / Reflexed Lilac

Original antique black-and-white print from Curtis's Botanical Magazine — Plate 8869.

A Chinese lilac species with long, drooping (reflexed) flower clusters in deep rose-pink — far more dramatic in form than the common garden lilac but with the same intoxicating fragrance. Named from the Greek syrinx — the reed nymph who was transformed into hollow reeds by the god Pan, who then fashioned them into the panpipes.

Birth flower: May (lilac is a May birth flower in some traditions). Lilacs grow in every garden across Illinois and the entire Midwest — one of Chicago's most beloved spring flowers.

Uncolored plate. Condition consistent with age of volume. Each print is a unique piece of botanical history, printed on paper aged over a century.

This plate originated with the Royal Horticultural Society and passed through Wheldon & Wesley, one of the great natural history dealers of the 20th century. We came into the archive by accident and have spent the time since trying to share it as widely as we can.