Scilla siberica

Siberian squill
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Asparagaceae
Subfamily:	Scilloideae
Genus:	Scilla
Species:	S. siberica
Binomial name
Scilla siberica Haw.

Siberian squill (Scilla siberica; also called wood squill) is a bulbous perennial, grown for its nodding blue flowers in early spring. It naturalizes rapidly from seed.

Description

The flowers have six petals and six stamens, and are arranged singly or in racemes of two or three. Petals may be reflexed to the horizontal when sunlight is bright, but are more often cup-shaped. The flowers are usually blue, but those of Scilla siberica var. alba are white. The stamens of Scilla are separate, unlike those of the related genera Puschkinia and Chionodoxa, which are fused into a tube. The pollen is dark blue.

After flowering, the flower stems become limp as capsules (pods) mature. At maturity, the capsules become purple and split open, releasing small, dark brown seeds. When the seeds are mature, the leaves wither and the plant goes dormant until the next spring.

Seedlings are hollow-leaved.

Cultivation

At 15 cm (5.9 in), Siberian squill is suitable to be planted in grass, and will spread by seed to form large colonies that go dormant by the time grass needs to be mowed. In the Midwest US, it is becoming invasive in some situations.

Gallery

• 
  seed capsules
• 
  bulbs
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  Klepacza Park in Łodz, Poland
• 
  Siberian squill

External links

• Germplasm Resources Information Network
• Ornamental Plants from Russia and Adjacent States of the Former Soviet Union
• Pacific Bulb Society
• PLANTS Profile
• Kew Plant List
• Minnesota Wildflowers
• The Plant Expert
• IPNI Listing