''Scilla nana'', known as dwarf glory-of-the-snow, is 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 A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

from

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

flowering in early spring with flowers in shades of lilac blue. After flowering, it goes into

dormancy Dormancy is a period in an organism's life cycle when growth, development, and (in animals) physical activity are temporarily stopped. This minimizes metabolic activity and therefore helps an organism to conserve energy. Dormancy tends to be clo ...

until the next spring. It belongs to a group of ''

Scilla ''Scilla'' () is a genus of about 30 to 80 species of bulb-forming perennial herbaceous plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. Sometimes called the squills in English, they are native to woodlands, subalpine meadows, and sea ...

'' species that were formerly put in a separate genus, ''Chionodoxa'', and may now be treated as ''Scilla'' sect. ''Chionodoxa''. It has not always been recognized as distinct from ''

Scilla cretica ''Scilla cretica'' is a species of flowering plant in the Asparagaceae family. It is referred to by the common name Cretan glory-of-the-snow, and is a bulbous perennial native to Crete, flowering in early spring. It belongs to a group of ''Scilla ...

''.

Description

Like all members of ''Scilla'' sect. ''Chionodoxa'', the bases of the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s of ''Scilla nana'' are flattened and closely clustered in the middle of the flower. In other species of ''Scilla'', the stamens are not flattened or clustered together. ''S. nana'' (like '' S. cretica'') has two leaves per bulb, and at most one flowering stem, with one to five (more commonly three) flowers in a loose

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 ...

. Individual flowers are up to 2.4 cm diameter with tepals up to 1.1 cm long, most facing upwards, the overall colour effect being some shade of lilac-blue. Sfikas distinguishes between smaller plants with whitish flowers occurring above 1700 m, ''S. nana'', and larger plants with bluer flowers occurring below 1700 m, '' S. cretica''. ''S. nana'' subsp. ''albescens'' (synonym ''S. albescens'') is recognized by some sources, although not by others. It has slightly smaller flowers (tepals up to 1 cm long), whitish with lavender to violet-blue tips. It was awarded the RHS

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 ...

(H4 – hardy outdoors anywhere in the British Isles) in 2004, subject to availability.

Taxonomy

''Scilla nana'' was first described in 1829, as ''Hyacinthus nana'', by

Josef August Schultes Josef (Joseph) August Schultes (15 April 1773 in Vienna – 21 April 1831 in Landshut) was an Austrian botanist and professor from Vienna. Together with Johann Jacob Roemer (1763–1819), he published the 16th edition of Linnaeus' ''Systema V ...

and

Julius Hermann Schultes Julius Hermann Schultes (4 February 1804 in Vienna – 1 September 1840 in Munich) was an Austrian botanist from Vienna. He co-authored volume 7 of the Roemer & Schultes edition of the ''Systema Vegetabilium'' with his father Josef August Sc ...

. It was transferred to ''Chionodoxa'' in 1854. ''Chionodoxa'' was separated from ''Scilla'' partly on the basis of the flattened stamen bases. Phylogenetic studies showed that ''Chionodoxa'' was nested within ''Scilla''. Former ''Chionodoxa'' species may now be treated as ''Scilla'' sect. ''Chionodoxa''. Plants occurring in Crete have at one time or another been put into one of three species (in either ''Scilla'' or ''Chionodoxa''): ''S. albescens'' , ''S. cretica'' and ''S. nana'' . Sfikas' ''Wild flowers of Crete'' recognized only two of these (in ''Chionodoxa'' as ''C. cretica'' and ''C. nana''); the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

's checklist of the Cretan Flora recognized only one (''S. nana''). , the ''

World Checklist of Selected Plant Families The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (usually abbreviated to WCSP) is an "international collaborative programme that provides the latest peer reviewed and published opinions on the accepted scientific names and synonyms of selected plan ...

'' accepts both ''S. nana'' and ''S. cretica''.

Distribution and habitat

''Scilla nana'' is endemic to

, where it occurs at elevations of 1700–2300 m.

Notes and references

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q1469547, from2=Q5101436, from3=Q23455986

nana Nana, Nanna, Na Na or NANA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nana (given name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Nana (surname), including a list of people and characters with the surname * Nana (c ...

Ephemeral plants Plants described in 1829 Flora of Crete