Scientific Name: Scilla siberica
Common Name: Siberian squill
Origin: Alien; from regions around Russia and Turkey.
Notes: This is an attractive landscaping plant, available from nurseries and used to add some early color to planted ground covers. The small plants are noticed in early spring (April) when they produce upright floral scapes (stems) about 6 inches high bearing one to three blue nodding flowers. Left undisturbed for several years, they can densely populate an area and may be regarded as invasive.
The taxonomy is unsettled. The taxonomic system developed by Arthur Cronquist (and used here) placed the genus Scilla in the Family Liliaceae. More recent systems e.g. those by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have reorganized the rankings of many of the monocotyledonous plants (See Striped squill) assigning Scilla to other families—Hyacinthaceae or Asparagaceae (see subfamily Scilloideae).
Toxins (saponins and bufadienolides) protect the plants from rodent herbivores but may also be a hazard to children and pets (especially cats). The bulb looks like a small onion and contains most of the toxins. No part of the plant should be eaten.
Additional references: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
Field Marks for Identification:
Flowers: April; six tepal lobes blue with a darker blue vein down the middle, 6 free stamen, anthers and pollen blue, a single style with capitate stigma; inflorescence, emerging from the bulb, one to several upright scapes 6 ±2 inches tall with 1-3 flowers per scape; ovary superior with 3 locules.
Leaves: 2 to 4, basal, linear, glabrous, usually less than 6 inches long.
Glossaries of botanical terms: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
