Syringa spp. of the family Oleaceae, the olive family. The most commonly seen name is S. vulgaris ("common" lilac).
There are reportedly over 1,000 varieties of this bush and at least 500 of them can all be seen in one place in Rochester, NY. Other reports state that there are about 20 species, so perhaps the 1,000+ varieties are not separate species. Ya got me, but since they are all bushes, this species is of little interest to woodworkers.
Other common names include persian lilac and chinaberry but the name chinaberry is also used commonly for an unrelated species and thus has its own page on this site.
my samples:
a small piece ready to be turned and a halved section of a similar piece showing the pith. These pics were provided by Iain Rankin, whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Iain pointed out that these pics were unlike the rest of the pics on this page, but like him, I have found small lilac plants with exactly this color/grain.
a small piece contributed to the site by Iain Rankin (see above) and photographed by me.
not exactly "my" samples, since these were sent to me by a correspondent, however, he later very kindly send along a couple of slices from the chunk and they are directly below. Common name used for these was lilac.
As you can see from my pics, his pics (directly above) seem to emphasize the red far too much, but that's because there was a sealant on the wood.
both sides and both ends of a sample piece sold to me as chinaberry
end grain closeup of the piece directly above
web pics
lilac pic contributed by Sean Winger. Why this and the other "lilac" sample are so radically different, I have no idea, but it probably has something to do with the fact that there are over 1,000 varieties. :-).
Also, notice that this pieces has a moderately wide and clearly defined sapwood area whereas the one above has a sapwood area that is poorly differentiated.
"chinaberry" plank and closeup; pics contributed by Bill Stuewe, whom I thank.
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