''Scilla siberica'', the Siberian squill or wood squill, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Asparagaceae, native to southwestern Russia, the Caucasus, and Turkey. Despite its name, it is not native to Siberia.

Description

Growing to tall by wide, it 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 ...

, with two to four strap-shaped leaves appearing in early spring, at the same time as the nodding, blue, bell-shaped flowers. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

s have six

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 ...

s and six

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 are arranged singly or in

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 ...

s 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 genus '' Puschkinia'', which are fused into a tube. The

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametop ...

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. The seedlings are hollow-leaved.

Cultivation

''S. siberica'' is cultivated for its bluebell-like flowers. It naturalizes rapidly from seed. At , it is suitable for planting in grass, and will spread by seed to form large colonies that go dormant by the time grass needs to be mowed. In the Midwestern United States it is becoming

invasive Invasive may refer to: *Invasive (medical) procedure *Invasive species *Invasive observation, especially in reference to surveillance *Invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer ...

in some situations. This plant 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 (No ...

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 ...

Gallery

Image:Scilla siberica pods.jpg, Seed capsules Image:Scilla_siberica_alba_bulbs.jpg, Bulbs Image:Park Klepacza Lodz.jpg, Klepacza Park in Łodz, Poland Image:Scilla siberica Indiana University.jpg, Pendulous flowers at various stages of development File:20210430 SiberianSquill-SQ1.jpg, In Calgary, Alberta in April File:Scilla siberica пыльца.tif, Pollen grains under a microscope with different illumination methods (EPI illumination, bright field, differential interference contrast, phase contrast, autofluorescence)

References

External links

*
Pacific Bulb Society

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q158944 siberica Ephemeral plants Taxa named by Henry Cranke Andrews