Azurea Plena

Libert-Darimont, 1843

‘Azurea Plena’, S. vulgaris
Libert-Darimont 1843; D III
syn. – ‘flore duplo Liberti’, ‘flore pleno Liberti’
common name: blue lilac, Double Azuré, lilas double de Libert
C.F.A. Morren, Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Lettres, Beaux-arts Belg. ser. I, 273 [1853] – as ‘flore pleno Liberti’; Gartenflora 3:60 [1854] – as ‘Azurea Plena’; Stand. Pl. Names, 485, 486 [1923] – as Double Azure; McKelvey, The Lilac, 262-265, [1928]; Wister, Lilacs for America, 44 [1942], 25 [1953]; D. De Meyere, Belgische Dendrologie Belge 1998, p. 41 [1999]; Photo on Jorgovani/Lilacs 2015 DVD.
Cultivar name presumed registered 1953; name established and accepted.

Международный регистр названий культиваров
рода Syringa L., сентябрь 2024

Azurea plena Gartenflora, III. 60 (1854), “… ist eine gefüllte Abart der gewöhnlichen blauen.”- Kirchner in Petzold and Kirchner, Arb. Muscav. 494 (1864), “Möchte von dem gewöhnlichen, blaugefüllten kaum verschieden sein.”-Hartwig and Rümpler, Vilmorin’s Blumengärtn. 561 (1875), as S. vulgaris azurea Hort. – Lemoine in Litt. according to Carrière in Rev. Hort. 1883, 550. Carrière and André in Rev. Hort. 1889, 410.-V. Lemoine in Garden and Forest, II. 326 (1889). Dippel, Handb. Laubholzk.
I. 113 (1889). Hartwig, III. Gehölzb. 380 (1892).-E. Lemoine in Jardin, VI. 152 (1892), as S. azurea plena.-L. Henry in Jardin, VIII. 175 (1894); in Jour. Soc. Hort. France, sér. 4, II. 738 (1901). Voss, Vilmorin’s Blumengärtn. 652 (1896). – Rehder in Möller’s Deutsch. Gärtn.-Zeit. XIV. 206 (1899). Foussat in Jardin, XV. 281 (1901). – Beissner, Schelle and Zabel, Handb. Laubholz-Ben. 414 (1903). Bellair in Rev. Hort. 1906, 321. Grignan in Rev. Hort. 1907, 14, and as fl. pl. Liberti. – Sargent in Bull. Arnold Arb. n. s. III. 22 (1917), and as S. vulgaris flore pleno Liberti; IX. 17 (1923). Havemeyer in Gard. Mag. XXV. 233 (1917), as Syringa azurea plena and as S. vulgaris fl. plena “Liberti.”-Lingelsheim in Engler, Pflanzenr. IV. 243, pt. I-II. 89 (1920). A. O[sborn] in Garden, LXXXVII. 302 (1923).
As noted below this form first appeared as Syringa vulgaris flore duplo Liberti. The name Azurea plena has been retained because of its common usage and because of the existence of a single form known only as Liberti (see Liberti) which has priority in the use of the name.
Charles Morren, a botanist of Liège, Belgium, first described this form as Syringa vulgaris flore duplo Liberti (Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Lettres, Beaux-arts Belg. sér. 1, 273, t. (opp. p. 284), figs. 4-II, 1853; reprinted in Clusia, 173, t. XIII. figs. 4-II, 1852-1854). His description is as follows: “Le Lilas double de Libert a la végétation entière caracterisée par moins d’ampleur que le Syringa vulgaris. On dirait d’une hybride entre le Lilas de Constantinople et le Lilas de Perse, bien cependant qu’il soit venu d’un semis du premier. L’arbuste à fleurs doubles est plus léger dans son allure; les feuilles sont plus petites, les thyrses moins fournis, moins gros, les fleurs moins grandes et la coloration elle-même subit des changements. Sur le Lilas à fleurs doubles les boutons sont roses, les fleurs sont violettes par dessous dans leurs premières corolles, et d’un beau bleu de ciel påle dans la corolle double et le dessus des fleurs; de sorte que ces teintes de rose, de violet, de lilas et de bleu jouent ensemble sur les thyrses de cette production. Les thyrses, enfin, sont souvent pourvus à leur base de rameaux thyrsifères eux-mêmes, ce qui donne un aspect de grande richesse a cette végétation.” Again (Belg. Hort. IV. 68, t. VI. fig. 4 (fig. as Double azuré), 1854) Charles Morren writes of this form under the name Lilas d’azur à fleur double, and notes that almost three centuries had elapsed between the introduction of S. vulgaris to France and the production of a double form. He notes that since 1843 catalogues have announced another double Lilac under the name Syringa vulgaris, flore purpureo duplici.
According to Charles Morren this double form was a seedling of S. vulgaris, produced. in 1843 by the Belgian horticulturist Libert of Liège, Belgium. Edouard Morren (Belg. Hort. XXVIII. 175, 1878) gives the name of the producer as Libert-Darimont and states that nurserymen cultivate it under the names violacea flore pleno, rubra plena, and flore pleno, although there are doubtless minor differences between these plants. He writes also that there is a Lilac with single flowers in trade under the name Liberti but that this name is used erroneously for the single form. See also the form Liberti.
Again, writing with A. De Vos (Index Bibliog. Hort. Belg. 556, 1887) Morren notes this as Lilas d’azur à fl. doubles. It was, according to these authors, offered for sale by Brahy-Ekenholm of Herstal [near Liège, Belgium].
Azurea plena is interesting as being the double-flowered form used by Victor Lemoine as the starting point in the production of his fine race of double Lilacs. He writes that the rare flowers were largely hidden by the foliage and that the plant was more interesting teratologically than otherwise. The flowers had no stamens and the pistils were abortive or so hidden by the corolla-lobes as to be inaccessible to natural fertilization and no seeds were produced by natural means. Lemoine crossed it artificially with pollen from the species S. oblata and from some of the best garden forms of the Common Lilac such as Ville de Troyes, Sanguinea, etc., and in 1871 the plant bore a few seeds which germinated and produced the first of the new double-flowered Lilacs. One of these was a true hybrid (S. oblata X S. vulgaris) and Lemoine named it S. hyacinthiflora plena [= x S. hyacinthiflora]. Other seedlings which did not show the S. oblata strain but which were double or improved single forms of S. vulgaris were also obtained and the best of the former was S. vulgaris flore duplo Lemoinei [= Lemoinei]. Others were Renoncule, Rubella plena, Mathieu de Dombasle and Le Gaulois. From this time on Lemoine discarded Azurea plena as a seed parent. The new double-flowered race was then crossed with pollen from the best single forms and from this crossing resulted the Lilacs Alphonse Lavallée, Michel Buchner, Président Grévy, M[ons]. Maxime Cornu, etc. Carrière quotes Victor Lemoine as stating that he bought his plant of Azurea plena from A. Wilhelm of Luxembourg and did not know whence it was obtained.

Havemeyer writes most interestingly of Lemoine’s work: “Now the flowers of these plants are small. This work of crossing demands good eyesight which Mr. Lemoine did not then have, and so, he told me, he sought the aid of Madame and placed into her care the very delicate work of cross fertilization. This work, first started during the Franco-Prussian War, when Nancy was occupied by the Germans, solely as a diversion from the trials of the time, was carried on by Mme. Lemoine for many years under the direction of her husband. Syringa azurea plena was most difficult to work on, the minute flowers being formed of many petals, nearly microscopic, without stamens, and with a pistil covered with the lobes of the interior petals, malformed and sterile. Yet this was the plant selected for the seed bearing. It was necessary to work from a step ladder on account of the size of the bush, uncovering a number of flowers to expose the pistil and then apply the chosen pollen to the flower when one was found in which the pistil was not too much malformed… Thus it will be seen that the plants finally attained were the achievement of patience and tedious work. Even so, the results were ever in doubt, and from more than one hundred flowers crossed, the first year produced only seven seeds. The following year thirty fertile seeds were gathered, and the work continued. The first fruits of the work of Mr. and Madame Lemoine were seen in 1876 when three bushes flowered.”
Hugo De Vries (Species and Varieties, 763, 1905) writes: “The double variety seems to be as old as the culture of the lilacs. It was already known to Munting, who described it in the year 1671. Two centuries afterwards, in 1870, a new description was given by Morren, and though more than one varietal name is recorded in his paper, it appears from the facts given that even at that time only one variety existed. It was commonly called Syringa vulgaris azurea plena, and seems to have been very rare and without real ornamental value…” The date of Abraham Munting’s “Waare Oeffening der Planten” is 1672 but it is possibly to this work that De Vries had reference. On page 122 are mentioned four Syringa, only two of which, both with single flowers, I believe to be Lilacs. The other two, which Munting called Syringa flore candido simplici and Syringa flore candido pleno, from his description of the larger flowers and smaller leaves, I refer to the genus Philadelphus. No reference to a double-flowered blue Lilac has been found and I believe that the first description of such a Lilac is Morren’s. The form Plena of Oudin’s catalogue of 1841 is not found described till 1855. The first reference to a double white Lilac, Alba plena, which I know is that of Loddiges’ catalogue of 1823.
Double Azure has been adopted as approved common name by “Standardized Plant Names” (486, 1923). Nash (Jour. N. Y. Bot. Gard. xx, 233, 1919) calls it Blue Lilac. Baudriller (Cat. no. 43, 141, 1880) gives it the name of Lilas commun à fleurs doubles azurées.
Notes on plant in Dept. of Parks, Rochester, N. Y., (received from Späth in 1882). Flowers double, small, with 2 corollas and additional lobes at throat; corolla-lobes pointed at apex, forming a star-shaped flower; tone intermediate to pale; color in bud Argyle Purple to Light Pinkish Lilac (XXXVII.); when expanded Purplish Lilac to Light Pinkish Lilac (XXXVII.) without, Light Campanula Blue (XXIV.) within. Clusters long, narrowly pyramidal, interrupted. Not valuable as a decorative form.
Oudin (Cat. no. 77 [cir. 1854], 8) mentions, as a name only, a Syringa Azurea. It seems probable from the date that this is a reference to Azurea plena but it is not stated whether the flowers are single or double. The S. vulgaris Azurea mentioned by Hartwig and Rümpler (Vilmorin’s Blumengärtn. 561, 1875) is obviously a reference to Azurea plena since the authors state that it can scarcely be distinguished from S. vulgaris flore pleno [= Plena]. See also Plena and pre-Linnean synonyms of S. vulgaris.

“THE LILAC: A Monograph” Susan Delano McKelvey,
MacMillan, New York, 1928

Azurea Plena’, Libert-Darimont, 1843
Цветки диаметром 1 см и менее. Длина соцветия 10 см. Кусты широкие.

Татьяна Полякова, Highland Botanical Park, Рочестер, Нью-Йорк, 2013 год

Azurea Plena, S. vulgaris – Азуреа Плена, Либерт-Даримонт, 1843 г., Бельгия, голубоватая (III), махровая.
Бутоны: темно-розовые, мелкие, слегка удлиненные
Цветки: звездчатой формы, от пурпурного к бледно-голубому цвету
Соцветия: длинные, узкопирамидальные, рыхлые
Аромат: приятный
Листья: некрупные, слегка вытянутые, завернуты лодочкой
Куст: 3 м широко разветвленный
Срок цветения: средний
Примечания: интересна своей исторической ценностью как первая махровая сирень. Именно ее Виктор Лемуан использовал первоначально для селекции.

“СИРЕНЬ. Каталог сортов”. Наталья Савенко, Москва, 2019