Keyed Out #091 — Syringa pubescens ssp. patula 'Miss Kim'

Question 1

Each small flower is a tube flaring into four lobes with only two pollen-bearing {stamens} tucked inside, and every leaf sits opposite a partner on the twig.

Accepted Answer

olive family

Question 2

The spent flowers harden into dry brown pods that split along two seams to shed flat, papery seeds, rather than swelling into fleshy fruit.

Accepted Answer

Oleaceae

Question 3

Its shoots leaf out fully first, and only afterwards do crowded spires of bloom open at the branch tips - not a rush of blossom studding naked wood before a single leaf appears.

Accepted Answer

Syringa

Question 4

Every blade is a single undivided oval on its stalk, set in opposing pairs, never a central rib carrying a row of separate {leaflets}.

Accepted Answer

Syringa

Question 5

Draw a thumb across a blade and it drags - short hairs coat both faces and thicken to a soft felt beneath.

Accepted Answer

Syringa pubescens

Question 6

It builds a dense, rounded, many-stemmed bush branching from the ground, not a single-trunked small tree of 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 m) with glossy reddish, cherry-like bark.

Accepted Answer

Syringa pubescens