''Prospero autumnale'', the autumn squill, an autumnal flowering plant of 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''. This family includes both ...

, subfamily

Scilloideae Scilloideae (named after the genus ''Scilla'', "squill") is a subfamily of bulbous plants within the family ''Asparagaceae''. Scilloideae is sometimes treated as a separate family Hyacinthaceae, named after the genus ''Hyacinth (plant), Hyacinthus ...

, is found in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

region from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

east to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, plus

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Despite being classified as a single species, it is actually a

cryptic species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

, with a variety of cytotypes having been discovered which are

phenotypically In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological properties ...

indistinguishable from each other. __TOC__

Synonyms

*''Scilla autumnalis'' L. *''Anthericum autumnale'' (L.) Scop. *''Ornithogalum autumnale'' (L.) Lam. *''Genlisa autumnalis'' (L.) Raf. *''Stellaris autumnalis'' (L.) Bubani *''Hyacinthus autumnalis'' (L.) E.H.L.Krause in J.Sturm *''Urginea autumnalis'' (L.) El-Gadi *''Scilla pulchella'' Munby *''Scilla gallica'' Tod. *''Scilla racemosa'' Balansa ex Baker *''Scilla dumetorum'' Balansa ex Baker *''Scilla longipes'' Batt. in J.A.Battandier & L.C.Trabut *''Scilla holzmannia'' Heldr. *''Scilla scythica'' Kleopow *''Prospero holzmannium'' (Heldr.) Speta *''Prospero pulchellum'' (Munby) Speta *''Prospero scythicum'' (Kleopow) Speta *''Scilla cyrenaica'' (Pamp.) G.M.Barroso & al. *''Prospero cyrenaicum'' (Pamp.) Speta Prospero autumnale MHNT

References

Scilloideae Flora of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Asparagaceae-stub