PHILADELPHUS, a genus of shrubs, containing the mock orange or syringa, bel urging to the order sa.eifragneece or saxifrage family, and tribe hydrangiere, which also includes the genus hydrangea. In philadelphus the calyx tube is top-shaped and coherent with the ovary. Petals rounded or obovate, large, convolute in the bud. Stamens 20 to 40; styles 3 to 5, united below or nearly to the top; stigmas oblong or linear: poi 3 to 5 celled, when opening, splitting into as many pieces. heeds very numerous, attached to thick placentm projecting from the axis. Leaves opposite, often toothed; no stipules; solitary, cymose; clustered, showy white, or cream-colored flowers. There are several species, natives of the southern Atlantic and Pacific states and Japan, and several varieties have been produced by cultivation. P. inodorus, growing in the moun tains of Virginia and southward, has ovate leaves, pointed; entire, or with some spread ing teeth; flowers single or few at the ends of the branches; pure white, and inodorous.
P. grandiflorus has larger flowers, and is a tall shrub with long recurved branches; grows in Virginia and southward, near the mountains. It is ofte'n cultivated in gardens. P. klesutes grows in Tennessee and North Carolina. It has small, pointed, hairy leaves, and solitary flowers, or only two or three together. A species growing in Oregon, called yo•doninnus, is probably a variety of hirsutus. On the Pacific coast are also found P. Caltylirnicus and P. Leicai. The most common and bekt reps.sentative of the genus, however, is P. coronaries, or the common mock orange or syringa much cultivated in gardens for a long time. Its native country is not known; it has been referred to Japan and also to southern Europe. It has erect branches, oblong ovate leaves, winch when crushed have very much the odor and taste of cucumbers. Its cream-colored flowers, borne in large clusters, are well known for their exceeding fragrance.