Common Lilac

The Common Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is a deciduous shrub in the family Oleaceae. Lilacs are native to southeastern Europe, where they flower in early spring. The Arabs introduced them in Spain in the tenth century, but they weren’t common in the gardens of central and western Europe before the mid-sixteenth century. They are very popular ornamental plants, grown for their attractive and fragrant flowers, arranged in dense thyrsus.
Depending on the cultivar, they can be white, purple or even yellow and single or double-flowered. The cultivar Charles X is purple.

The caption reads in the original French: Lilas de Charles X.