An Inventory of Old Lilac and Crab Apple Cultivars in the City of Helsinki, Finland

Old parks and gardens of Helsinki City embody an assortment of woody ornamentals that is astonishingly diverse, in respect to the harsh climate and to the relatively short history of ornamental gardening in Finland. This paper reports the results of a study aimed at documentation and identification of old common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) and ornamental crab apple (Malus spp.) genotypes growing in the green areas of Helsinki. The survey was accomplished in 2005 and 2006. The study material included 60 individual common lilac shrubs and 30 crab apple trees. The morphological characteristics of each plant were measured and photographed. An initial idea on the cultivar identity was obtained via historical notes related to each growing site and via the cultivar assortment presented in contemporary Finnish nursery lists and gardening handbooks. The morphological traits of the plants were then compared to cultivar descriptions in reference works. For the lilacs, 25 phenotypes were distinguished, and eight of them were given a plausible cultivar name. Among the crab apples, 10 trees were preliminarily determined as representing a certain cultivar, hybrid or species.