Scilla luciliae
Scilla luciliae, known as Bossier's glory-of-the-snow[2] or Lucile's glory-of-the-snow, is a bulbous perennial from western Turkey flowering in early spring. After flowering, it goes into dormancy until the next spring. The Latin name is in honour of Lucile, the wife of the Swiss botanist Pierre Edmond Boissier.[3] It belongs to a group of Scilla species that were formerly put in a separate genus, Chionodoxa, and may now be treated as Scilla sect. Chionodoxa.[4]
Scilla luciliae | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Asparagaceae |
Subfamily: | Scilloideae |
Genus: | Scilla |
Section: | Scilla sect. Chionodoxa |
Species: | S. luciliae |
Binomial name | |
Scilla luciliae | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Description
Like all members of the former genus Chionodoxa, the bases of the stamens are flattened and closely clustered in the middle of the flower. In other species of Scilla, the stamens are not flattened or clustered together.[5]
Each bulb produces two leaves, up to 8 cm long and 2 cm wide, and at most one flowering stem, up to 10 cm long. The flowers are produced in a loose pyramidal raceme, with 2–3 flowers per stem, which face upwards. Each flower is up to 3.5 cm across. The base of each tepal is white (as are the stamen filaments), producing a white 'eye'. The outer part of the tepals is violet-blue. The species can be distinguished from the commonest species grown in gardens, S. forbesii, by the much smaller number of slightly larger flowers per stem.[6]
Distribution
Scilla luciliae is native to western Turkey.[1] It has a restricted distribution in the Mahmut Mountain in İzmir Province.[4]
Cultivation
Scilla luciliae has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit,[7] confirmed in 2017.[8]
Notes and references
- "Scilla luciliae", World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2020-03-17
- BSBI List 2007, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, archived from the original (xls) on 2014-10-23, retrieved 2014-10-17
- Paghat's garden, Paghat.com, retrieved 2018-10-08
- Yildirim et al. (2017)
- Mathew (1987), p. 25
- Dashwood & Mathew (2005), p. 7
- RHS Plantfinder - Scilla luciliae (Boiss.) Speta, retrieved 2018-07-10
- AGM Plants - Ornamental (PDF), Royal Horticultural Society, July 2017, p. 16, retrieved 2018-01-24
Bibliography
- Dashwood, Melanie & Mathew, Brian (2005), Hyacinthaceae – little blue bulbs (RHS Plant Trials and Awards, Bulletin Number 11), Royal Horticultural Society, archived from the original on 28 August 2015, retrieved 28 August 2015
- Mathew, Brian (1987), The Smaller Bulbs, London: B T Batsford, ISBN 978-0-7134-4922-8
- Mathew, Brian (2005), "Hardy Hyacinthaceae, Part 2: Scilla, Chionodoxa, xChionoscilla", The Plantsman (New Series), 4 (2): 110–21
- Yildirim, H.; Yetisen, K.; Özdemir, A. & Özdemir, C. (2017), "An Anatomical Study of Scilla (Scilloideae) Section Chionodoxa and Scilla bifolia in Turkey" (PDF), Planta Daninha, 35: e017162495, doi:10.1590/s0100-83582017350100004, retrieved 2020-03-16