Scilla L.

	Scilla siberica Photo: © Kurt Stüber

squill, Cuban-lily (Scilla peruviana)

Scilla siberica Haw.

S. peruviana L.

possibly others

Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Leafless scapes bearing terminal racemes or corymbs of small, star-shaped flowers, 1.5-4 cm across; 1 small, filiform, decurrent bract subtends each flower, often with a small lateral bracteole; 6 nearly equal free tepals in 2 whorls of 3; filaments inserted at base of tepals, sometimes widened at bases.

Racemes cylindrical to conical, lax to dense; few to many flowers per raceme; pedicels short to long; flowers bell-shaped to flat; tepals erect, reflexed, or pendent, mostly blue to violet, also white, often conspicuously 1-nerved.

S. siberica: loose racemes of up to 4 to 5 pendent, rotate or bowl-shaped flowers, 1.5 cm in diameter; anthers violet or grey-blue.

S. peruviana: dense, conical racemes of 40 to 100 flowers, over 2.5 cm in diameter; anthers yellow.

Ornithogalum

Tunisia.