PYRENEAN SQUILL

Scilla liliohyacinthus

Asparagus Family [Asparagaceae]

month8mar month8march month8apr month8april month8may

status
statusZneophyte
 
flower
flower8blue
 
flower
flower8azure
 
inner
inner8indigo
 
morph
morph8actino
 
petals
petalsZ6 petalsZ3
(3+3)
type
typeZspiked
 
stem
stem8round
 
toxicity
toxicityZmedium
 

27th April 2010, French Pyrenees, France. Photo: © Hester Coley
At up to 40cm high this is a tall squill, but not the tallest to which honour goes Portuguese Squill (Scilla peruviana).


27th April 2010, French Pyrenees, France. Photo: © Hester Coley
The bracts at the bottom of some flower stalks are a long 10-25mm - one can just be espied left of centre. The leaves are broad and taper near the end to a blunt tip.


27th April 2010, French Pyrenees, France. Photo: © Hester Coley
The tepals of the flowers are 9 to 12mm long. The anthers are indigo-coloured and x-chromosome-shaped.


Not to be semantically confused with : Portuguese Squill (Scilla peruviana) [a plant with similar name]

Easily mis-identified as : a so-called Chionodoxa such as Glory-of-the-Snow (Schilla forbesii) but that has anthers which grow not from the base of the tepals (as do those of Squills) but from the top of the corolla tube (as do those of the so-called Chionodoxa, a sub-genera of Scilla. Uniquely identifiable characteristics

Distinguishing Feature : The very wide leaves which are 1-30mm wide, the widest of any native or naturalised squill in the UK.

It is a neophyte, an introduced-naturalised plant, which spreads from garden-throw-outs in open woodland in scattered locations from Berkshire to South Somerset.


  Scilla liliohyacinthus  ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ Asparagaceae  

Distribution
 family8Asparagus family8Asparagaceae
 BSBI maps
genus8Scilla
Scilla
(Squills)

PYRENEAN SQUILL

Scilla liliohyacinthus

Asparagus Family [Asparagaceae]