''Puschkinia scilloides'', commonly known as striped squill or Lebanon squill, is a

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 du ...

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 wide ...

, native to

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes A ...

and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

Description

''Puschkinia scilloides'' is a small

ous plant, growing to about tall. It has two narrow basal leaves that widen towards the tips (

oblanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflet (bo ...

). The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

appears in early spring and is a dense

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 sh ...

with up to 20 flowers. The flowers are pale blue with a darker blue line in the centre of each

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

. A characteristic of the genus ''

Puschkinia ''Puschkinia'' is a genus of four known species of bulbous perennials in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It is native to the Caucasus and the Middle East. '' Puschkinia scilloides'' is grown as an ornamental bulbous plant. Descri ...

'' is a small cup surrounding the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s and

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

Distribution and habitat

''Puschkinia scilloides'' is native to

(Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran) and the

(North Caucasus and the Transcaucasus). It is grows in alpine meadows near the snowline.

Cultivation

''Puschkinia scilloides'' is cultivated as an

ornamental bulbous plant Ornamental bulbous plants, often called ornamental bulbs or just bulbs in gardening and horticulture, are herbaceous perennials grown for ornamental purposes, which have underground or near ground storage organs. Botanists distinguish between ...

, where it may be grown in a rock garden. A cool position in well drained soil is recommended.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q839611 Scilloideae Flora of Western Asia Flora of the Caucasus Plants described in 1805