A lilac or a lilac tree is a small tree which has sweet-smelling purple, pink, or white flowers in large, cone-shaped groups. Lilacs grew against the side wall. a twig of lilac. Lilacs are the flowers which grow on this tree. a vase of tulips, lilies, lilacs and primroses Her hair smelt of lilac
Something that is lilac is pale pinkish-purple in colour. All shades of mauve, lilac, lavender and purple were fashionable. Any of about 30 species of fragrant northern spring-flowering garden shrubs and small trees that make up the genus Syringa in the olive family, native to eastern Europe and temperate Asia. Lilacs have deep green leaves and large, oval clusters of compound blooms coloured deep purple, lavender, blue, red, pink, white, or creamy yellow; they are often highly fragrant. The common lilac (S. vulgaris) reaches 20 ft (6 m) in height and produces many suckers (shoots from the stem or root). The name syringa was formerly used for the mock orange of the saxifrage family, and the butterfly bush (see buddleia) is commonly called "summer lilac