''Scilla litardierei'', the amethyst meadow squill or Dalmatian scilla, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. A

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

ous perennial, with blue grape-hyacinth like flowers, blooming in late spring, much later than the more popular

Siberian squill ''Scilla siberica'', the Siberian squill or wood squill, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to southwestern Russia, the Caucasus, and Turkey. Despite its name, it is not native to Siberia. Description Growing ...

and later than ''

Muscari ''Muscari'' is a genus of perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia that produce spikes of dense, most commonly blue, urn-shaped flowers resembling bunches of grapes in the spring. The common name for the genus is grape hyacinth (a name which is ...

'' which it resembles.

Description

''Scilla litardierei'' has 3–6 grass-like leaves, 3-8mm wide, tapering to a point. Up to 70 blue-violet flower buds are borne on each stem in a dense

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

, opening into star-shaped flowers, 15–20 cm high. Preferring partial shade, it will naturalise and spread in favourable conditions.

Habitat

It originates in the western Balkans (hence

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

n scilla), and in its original habitat in Slovenia it is considered an endangered species, flowering in May–June.

Taxonomy

The exact taxonomic circumscription of the genus ''Scilla'' and related genera has proven very difficult, as noted by Stedje in 2001. ''"The definition of genera and the assignment of species to genera within the family

Hyacinthaceae Scilloideae (named after the genus ''Scilla'', "squill") is a subfamily of bulbous plants within the family ''Asparagaceae''. Scilloideae is sometimes treated as a separate family Hyacinthaceae, named after the genus '' Hyacinthus''. Scilloideae o ...

or subfamily Scilleae of the family Liliaceae, have troubled taxonomists since Linnaeus. The group is poor in qualitative characters, which has made it difficult to define stable genera based on good diagnostic characters. Species have often been moved from genus to genus either due to different opinions on generic delimitation or to misinterpretation of characters."'' Previously placed within the family Liliaceae, Scilla was subsequently reclassified as Asparaginaceae (subfamily Scilloideae, tribe Hyacintheae, subtribe Hyacinthinae). Based on DNA sequence studies, the Austrian botanist Franz Speta had proposed to re-ascribe this species into a separate genus, ''Chouardia'', within the Hyacintheae (1998). However, the accepted and preferred name is ''Scilla litardierei''. The synonyms ''Scilla amethystina'' Fish., ''Scilla pratensis'' Waldst. & Kit., ''Scilla italica'' Host and ''Scilla nutans'' Alsch. are no longer valid.

Cultivation

It was introduced to Britain in 1827. It has become much more easily available since 2004. In cultivation in the UK ''Scilla litardierei'' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. It is hardy down to .

References

Bibliography

Articles

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Databases

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Royal Horticultural Society

Websites

Alpine Garden Society

Tesselaar: Scilla 'Amethyst Meadow Squill'
{{Taxonbar, from=Q470338 litardierei