Syringa formosissima Nakai; S. formosissima var. hirsuta (C. K. Schneider) Nakai; S. hirsuta (C. K. Schneider) Nakai; S. hirsuta var. formosissima (Nakai) Nakai; S. robusta Nakai; S. robusta var. rupestris Baranov & Skvortsov; S. villosa Vahl var. hirsuta C. K. Schneider; S. wolfii var. hirsuta (C. K. Schneider) Hatusima.

Shrubs to 6 m. Young branchlets green, becoming gray, glabrous or pubescent. Petiole 1-3 cm, glabrous or pubescent; leaf blade elliptic-oblong, elliptic, or obovate-oblong, 3.5-12(-18) 1.5-7(-10) cm, adaxially glabrous or sparsely pubescent, abaxially villous, base cuneate to subrounded, apex usually acute to acuminate. Panicles erect, terminal, 5-30 × 3-18 cm; rachis, pedicel, and calyx villous or pubescent, occasionally subglabrous. Pedicel 0-2 mm. Calyx 2-3.5 mm. Corolla pale purple to purple-red, 1.2-1.8 cm; tube funnel-form, 1-1.4 cm; lobes oblong-ovate to ovate, upright or spreading. Anthers yellow, inserted near or slightly below mouth of corolla tube. Capsule oblong, (1-)1.2-1.7 cm, smooth. Fl. Jun, fr. Aug. 2n = 46*.

= Syringa villosa subsp. wolfii (C. K. Schneider) J. Y. Chen & D. Y. Hong, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 45: 860. 2007.

Mixed forests, thickets, woods, along rivers; 500-1600 m. Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning [Korea, E Russia]