Lilac

This massive shrub grows up to 13 feet (4.0 meters) tall and lives for around 80 years. It is very resistant to disease but is susceptible to destructive insect infestation.

It has many knobbly, twisting stems covered in smooth, light brown bark, and the wood inside is pale brown-grey.

The branches are tall, rigid and upright with thousands of twigs that and are covered with small amounts of large, stiff, pointed, leaves with smooth edges. The leaves themselves are lilac and gold, fairly frail and sticky.

It produces many small, turquoise flowers with long, tapering petals with a bell-shaped floral cup. They are very delicate and have a fairly strong scent that smells like freshly washed clothes. In mid-autumn it forms largewhite, tough-shelled seeds.