全 文 ：Survey and Research on Syringa Application in
Beijing Urban Green Land
LI Min1，LIU Yan2*
1． College of Landscape，Beijing Forestry University，Beijing 100083，China;2． National Floriculture Engineering Research Center，Beijing
100083，China
Abstract Through the survey of current situation of application of Syringa in Beijing City，the paper concluded the collocation method of Syringa，
and proposed some suggestions on the application of Syringa in Beijing City in future．
Key words Syringa，Beijing，Application，Survey
Received:August 12，2010 Accepted:October 30，2010
* Corresponding author． E-mail:limin_0715@163． com
The English name of Syringa is Lilac． The generalized
meaning of Syringa refers to all the species of genera Syringa;
while the narrow sense of Syringa indicates certain species of
genera Syringa［1］． Plants of genera Syringa are excellent flow-
er-viewing tree species，with beautiful flowers and strong eco-
logical adaptability，cold-resistant and drought-enduring，easy
to propagate． Syringa is one of the important native plants in
Beijing． There are abundant species of Syringa in Beijing and
its cultivation history is very long． It has broad application pros-
pect in landscape construction． Through the survey of current
application situation of Syringa in Beijing urban green land，the
author summarized the collocation method of Syringa，with a
purpose to provide reference for further reasonable utilization
of it．
1 Time，location and content of the survey
From August to June of 2009，and in May of 2010，field
study had been conducted on five categories of landscape
green lands in eight districts of Beijing City involving 66 sample
plots which contained 17 park green spaces，10 street green-
belts，15 attached green spaces，15 green lands in residential
areas and 19 road green lands． The species，growth condition
and collocation with other plant species of Syringa had been re-
corded，and the general application situation of Syringa in Bei-
jing green lands had been mastered．
2 Survey result and analysis
2．1 Common species There were plentiful species of Syzy-
gium，but the common species applied in urban green space
were few． And the most abundant species of Syzygium could
be found in Beijing Botanical Garden and specialized garden of
Syringa in Beijing Botanical Garden of Chinese Academy of Sci-
ences． In some other green spaces，only one to two species
could be found． The common species were showed in Table 1．
Table 1 Common species of Syringa applied in Beijing urban
green lands
Serial No． Species name Latin name
1 Early lilac Syringa oblata
2 White lilac Syringa oblata Alba
3 Persian lilac Syringa × persica
4 Daphne lilac Syringa microphylla
5 Red lilac Syringa villosa
6 Blue lilac Syringa meyeri
7 Beijing lilac Syringa pekinensis
8 Baoma lilac Syringa reticulata var． amurensis
2． 2 Current situation of application In park green space，
all the eight common species having been largely applied and
with good landscape effect could be found． Beijing Botanical
Garden and Beijing Botanical Garden of Chinese Academy of
Sciences were the major collections of Syringa． There，most of
species had been applied，and the maintenance and manage-
ment were done well． So they could be treated as the bases to
recognize，understand and cultivate Syringa． To enhance their
function would be beneficial to the promotion of Syringa in Bei-
jing area．
The quantity of Syringa applied in street greenbelt was also
large;however，the applied species were much less than that
in park green spaces． The common species applied in street
greenbelt were Syringa oblate and Syringa oblatavar Alba． The
collocation methods in street greenbelts were also less than in
park green spaces． Most plants of Syringa formed landscape
by combining crossing (corner)or the site． And Syringa was
mainly applied in group planting．
Among the attached green lands of Beijing City，places
with the best greening effect and most species of Syringa were
colleges and universities in Beijing City． It could be found that
species of Syringa applied in each college and university of Bei-
jing City were obviously more than that in street greenbelt，just
second to park green space． Particularly in Beijing Forestry
University，applied species were Syringa oblate，Syringa oblat-
avar Alba，Syringa meyeri，Syringa microphylla，Syringa retic-
ulata var． amurensis，Syringa vulgaris，Syringa persica and
Journal of Landscape Research 2010，2(10):27 －29 Editor:Chan Zhenzhen Proofreader:Wu Xiaoyan
Syringa laciniata Mill． The collocation methods were also multi-
ple． Nevertheless，the landscape effect and maintenance could
not be compared with that of park green space and street
greenbelt．
The applied species and collocation methods of green
lands in residential area were less than that of park green
space，street greenbelt and attached green land． The most
commonly seen species were Syringa oblata and Syringa oblata
Alba，which were planted at one side of buildings or at the cor-
ner of constructions．
In road green lands，Syringa was generally used as pedes-
trian green belt，that is，it was planted at the green belt from
the edge of roadway to building line，which included border tree
greenbelt，footpath greenbelt and building base greenbelt． The
width of greenbelt was about 1 － 2 m． Sometimes，flowers of
perennial root or lawn would be collocated below Syringa and
other times，hedge would be used to enclose Syringa to pre-
vent visitors from treading on． Applied species in road green
spaces were few，just including Syringa oblate and Syringa
oblatavar Alba． Landscape form and collocation method were
monotonous． Syringa were singly planted in a row or collocated
with other arbors or shrubs to form greenbelt．
Besides，it was found from the survey that Syringa had
dignified gesture，elegant flowers and heavy aroma． It would
bring airy and tranquil atmosphere and was the common fra-
grant flower tree species in Northern temples． The most fa-
mous temples well-known for their Syringa in Beijing were
Fayuan Temple and Jietai Temple． In Fayuan Temple，Syringa
was not only large in quantity，but also differed from each other
in species and flower color． In addition to Syringa oblate and
Syringa oblatavar Alba which were native to Northern China，
there was also Syringa vulgaris which was brought back from
Maluku Islands in Southeast Asia by ZHENG He when he went
to western ocean in Ming Dynasty． Syringa in Jietai Temple had
a history of more than 200 years，with white flowers as the
dominance and occasional purple flowers，generally 5 － 6 m
high． Tradition had it that Syringa was transplanted here from
Changchun Court of Old Summer Palace when Qianlong Em-
peror of Qing Dynasty visited Jietai Temple． From that time on，
whenever it came to the flowering period of Syringa，the temple
was suffused with heavy fragrance of Syringa，making people
feel soothing and relaxing．
2． 3 Collocation method As a kind of excellent landscaping
element，Syringa had decorated garden space with its beautiful
gesture and charming flowers． But Syringa only could demon-
strate its best landscape viewing effect when being scientifically
and artistically combined with other landscape elements． The
paper summarized following collocation methods of Syringa in
Beijing urban green lands［2］．
2． 3． 1 Syringa and road． Main road was the major way linking
each activity zone，about 3 －5 m wide． It was suitable to plant
Syringa in equidistance at both sides of flat and straight main
road，forming a regular Syringa road (Fig． 1)． When in the
flowering period of Syringa，large and flourishing inflorescence
continuously along the road gave people unified and harmoni-
ous visual enjoyment．
Fig． 1 Syringa and path
Sub-road and path were generally 2 －3 m wide or 1． 0 －
1. 5 m wide，used for tourists rambling． Flower path was an im-
portant plants allocation method applied at the sides of sub-road
and path，with special interest． Syringa was the good material
for flower path，for its flower shape was pretty，color was ele-
gant and smell was pleasant． Syringa should be planted with
small space between them，so that the branches of them could
link together，lending people the feeling of walking through
flowers ．
Plants collocation at crossing or road corner played the
role of opposite scenery，tour guide and mark (Fig． 2 － 3)．
With evergreen trees as the background，Syringa with pretty
limb，dense crown and moderate height would be planted as
the foreground，forming sight-viewing tree cluster． When flow-
ering，Syringa appeared to be much pretty and charming set off
by evergreen trees，attracting tourists attention． After flowers
withered，the corner of road and stretched branches of Syringa
would altogether form a frame，the distant scenery being car-
ried in the path．
Fig． 2 Syringa and crossing
2． 3． 2 Syringa and building． The collocation of landscape
plants and buildings was the combination of natural beauty and
artificial beauty． Northern buildings were generally magnificent，
so it was suitable to select tall pines and cypresses as the
background，and meanwhile select Syringa as the setoff． The
beautiful line of Syringa could soften edges and corners of
buildings，and make them better integrate with surrounding en-
vironment． At the same time，it could add some vigor and sea-
82 Journal of Landscape Research 2010
Fig． 3 Syringa and corner
sonable appeal，endow buildings with vitality (Fig． 4)．
Fig． 4 Syringa and building
2． 3． 3 Syringa and lawn． Lawn was a kind of flat green
ground with slight ups and downs． Syringa could be planted
around lawn in natural form，and meanwhile evergreen or decid-
uous arbors of different tree shapes could be allocated． By taking
advantage of variational forest edges，different spaces could
form． With lawn as the bottom color and Syringa as the basic tree
species，a beautiful Syringa lawn would form (Fig．5)．
Fig． 5 Syringa and lawn
2． 3． 4 Syringa and rock． The collocation of rock and plants
was the best expression means of virtuality and reality． They
contrasted finely with each other． Plants used to decorate rocks
should be selected according to the thickness of soil，moisture
and eutropic feature，so as to achieve expectant effect． Syringa
was a kind of plant with shallow root，drought-enduring and bar-
renness-resistant． So the collocation of Syringa and rock could
strengthen the stability of rock． The combination of static and dy-
namic matters would constitute lasting and stable picture(Fig．6)．
Fig． 6 Syringa and rock
3 Suggestions
(1)It should pay attention to the greening quality of Syrin-
ga applied in landscape green land． Many plants of Syringa
grew well in Beijing． Yet，the application proportion of Syringa
in landscape green lands was different from place to place，and
the applied species were very few． The advantage of Syringa
hadnt been given full play．
(2)Native species of Syringa in Beijing area and the culti-
vated species fit for promotion were very abundant． It needed
to further explore，enhance the effort to apply them，so as to
highlight regional characteristics．
(3)It should intensify the emphasis on collocation method
of Syringa Currently，most of studies on Syringa concentrated
on research on resource and medicinal value of it． Neverthe-
less，few attention had been laid on greening cultivation and
collocation method of Syringa，which led to unsatisfying land-
scape effect after the construction of green land．
(4)It should notice the collocation of Syringa with other
plants，forming plants cluster，so as to maintain the landscape．
References
［1］ZANG SY，LI GX． Syringa［M］． Beijing:China Forestry Publishing
House，1990:1 －102． (in Chinese)．
［2］MA H． Aesthetic characteristics of Syringa and its application in the
garden［J］． Journal of Anhui Agricultural Sciences，2010，38(14):
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檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪檪
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北京城市绿地中丁香应用的调查研究
李 旻1，刘 燕2* (1． 北京林业大学园林学院，北京 100083;2． 国家花卉工程技术中心，北京 100083)
作者简介 李旻(1987 －) ，女，安徽无为人，硕士研究生，研究方向:园林植物应用。* 通讯作者，博士，教授，博士生导师，从事园林植物教学与研究，
E-mail:chbly@ sohu． com。
收稿日期 2010-08-12 修回日期 2010-10-30
92LI Min et al． Survey and Research on Syringa Application in Beijing Urban Green Land