''Hyacinthoides italica'', the Italian bluebell or Italian squill, is a spring-flowering

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 dur ...

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 widel ...

plant belonging to the family

Asparagaceae Asparagaceae, known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, '' Asparagus officinalis''. Those who live in the temperate ...

. It is one of around 11

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Hyacinthoides ''Hyacinthoides'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, known as bluebells. Systematics ''Hyacinthoides'' is classified in the subfamily Scilloideae (now part of the family Asparagaceae, but formerly treated as a separate f ...

'', others including the common bluebell (''

Hyacinthoides non-scripta ''Hyacinthoides non-scripta'' (formerly ''Endymion non-scriptus'' or ''Scilla non-scripta'') is a bulbous perennial plant, found in Atlantic areas from north-western Spain to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is ...

'') in northwestern Europe, and the Spanish bluebell (''

Hyacinthoides hispanica ''Hyacinthoides hispanica'' ( syn. ''Endymion hispanicus'' or ''Scilla hispanica''), the Spanish bluebell, is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial native to the Iberian Peninsula. It is one of around a dozen species in the genus ''Hyacinthoides'' ...

'') further west in the Iberian Peninsula.

Description

''Hyacinthoides italica'' is up to tall. The stem is leafless. It has 3-6 basal lance-shaped leaves, wide and long. The inflorescence is a dense, conical or pyramid-like

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 ...

with 5-30 bright violet-blue star-like flowers. The flowers have two narrow bracts. Flowering period extends from February to May. It is in some respects intermediate between the common and Spanish species in having slender leaves (as in ''H. non-scripta'' or even slenderer), but a dense

of flowers (as in ''H. hispanica''; not sparse and one-sided as in ''H. non-scripta''). ''H. italica'' is sometimes used as an ornamental plant. It has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

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 ...

Distribution

This species is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to the central Mediterranean region, in northwestern Italy, in western

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

, in southern France, and in northeastern Spain.Hyacinthoides italica (L.) Rothm.
''luirig.altervista.org'', accessed 16 May 2021

Habitat

It can be found in olive groves, in dry and stony meadows and in clearings of forests at an elevation up to above sea level.

Gallery

File: Hyacinthoides_italica_613.jpg, Illustration from '' The Botanical Magazine'', Plate 663 File:Berne botanic garden Hyacinthoides italica.jpg, Plants of ''Hyacinthoides italica'' in the botanic garden of Berne File: Liliaceae - Hyacinthoides italic-001.jpg, Flowers of ''Hyacinthoides italica'' File: Liliaceae - Hyacinthoides italic-002.jpg, Close-up of a flower

References

Notes

General references

*Huxley, A. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening'' vol. 2: 604. Macmillan. {{Taxonbar, from=Q842040

italics In typography, italic type is a cursive font based on a stylised form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, italics normally slant slightly to the right. Italics are a way to emphasise key points in a printed t ...

Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus