There are many species and varieties of
lilacs prized for their large and fragrant flowers,
none of which belong to New England's natural plant
communities. Our lilac, the purple-flowered common lilac,
was brought here by European immigrants to remind them of
home. Originally native to southeastern Europe, the common
lilac is often encountered deep in New Hampshire's current
forest, indicating that an old and abandoned cellarhole can't be far
off. Such plants are actually living legacies to New Hampshire's
agricultural past, because lilacs cannot reproduce themselves
in our harsh climate. But aside from honoring the lilac as
a symbol of New Hampshire's earlier pioneering past, shouldn't
we re-examine the use of an alien species to represent our
state floristically? There are many woody plants native to
New Hampshire that produce equally beautiful flowers, such as the
hobblebush, serviceberry, alternate-leaved dogwood and mountain laurel.
Our state tree is the paper birch, an important and beautiful
component of New Hampshire's original landscape. Shouldn't our
state flower also be a species native to this state, as a public
reminder that New Hampshire is proud of its natural heritage?
We are currently losing an estimated 13000 acres of New Hampshire
forest
every year to new parking lots, homes and office buildings, a
trend that is only expected to increase. Shouldn't we celebrate
New Hampshire's native species while we still can? What do you
think?
more Lilac photos
back to James Hall
about the New England Ecological Garden