| Siberian squill | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| clade: | Angiosperms |
| clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asparagaceae |
| Subfamily: | Scilloideae |
| Genus: | Scilla |
| Species: | S. siberica |
| Binomial name | |
| Scilla siberica Haw. |
|
Siberian squill (Scilla siberica; also called wood squill) is a bulbous perennial, grown for its nodding blue flowers in early spring. It naturalizes rapidly from seed.
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Siberian squill is native to southwestern Russia, the Caucasus, and Turkey. Despite its name, it is not native to Siberia.
The flowers have six petals and six stamens, and are arranged singly or in racemes 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 genera Puschkinia and Chionodoxa, which are fused into a tube. The pollen 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.
Seedlings are hollow-leaved.
At 15 cm (5.9 in), Siberian squill is suitable to be planted in grass, and will spread by seed to form large colonies that go dormant by the time grass needs to be mowed.