Scilla peruviana
| Portuguese squill | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asparagaceae |
| Subfamily: | Scilloideae |
| Genus: | Scilla |
| Species: | S. peruviana
|
| Binomial name | |
| Scilla peruviana | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Many, including:
| |
Scilla peruviana (or Oncostema peruviana[a]), the Cuban lily,[2][3] Peruvian hyacinth[2][b] or Portuguese squill,[5] is a species of Scilla native to the western Mediterranean region in Iberia, Italy, and northwest Africa.[1][6] It is a bulb-bearing herbaceous perennial plant. The bulb is 6–8 cm in diameter, white with a covering of brown scales. The leaves are linear, 20–60 cm long and 1–4 cm broad, with 5-15 leaves produced each spring. The flowering stem is 15–40 cm tall, bearing a dense pyramidal raceme of 40-100 flowers; each flower is blue, 1–2 cm in diameter, with six tepals. The foliage dies down in summer, re-appearing in the autumn.
Names and taxonomy
Although the epithet peruviana means "from Peru" and a common name is "Cuban lily", Scilla peruviana is strictly a western Mediterranean species. Linnaeus named the species in 1753, citing an earlier name given to the plant by Carolus Clusius, Hyacinthus stellatus peruanus.[4] Clusius mentioned the species as growing in the Antwerp garden of a certain Everardus Munichoven, who reportedly got the plants from Peru.[7] The error was already mentioned in 1804 in Curtis's Botanical Magazine.[8] There is no reliable source for the story about a ship named Peru, shipping plants from Spain to Northern Europe, misleading Clusius or Linnaeus into giving the erroneous name.[9]
The status of the genus Scilla has been in flux,[10] with some authorities splitting it into a number of smaller genera[11] based on karyological analysis and the principles of monophyly.[12][13] A scheme by Franz Speta names S. peruviana as Oncostema peruviana,[12][14][11][9] but this changed has not been widely accepted.[15][16]
Cultivation and uses
It is commonly grown as an ornamental plant for its spring flowers; several cultivars are available ranging in colour from white to light or dark blue, or violet. In some areas it is also known as hyacinth-of-Peru,[6] Cuban-lily,[6] or Peruvian scilla.
It is not entirely hardy, suffering from prolonged frost. The best environment is a warm mediterranean climate similar to its native habitat.[17]
See also
Notes
References
- ^ a b c "Scilla peruviana L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
- ^ a b c Knight, Anthony P. (2007). "Scilla". A Guide to Poisonous House and Garden Plants. Jackson, WY: Teton New Media. p. 249. ISBN 9781482241044.
- ^ Lawrence, Elizabeth (2007). Armstrong, Ann L.; Wilson, Lindie (eds.). Beautiful at All Seasons: Southern Gardening and Beyond with Elizabeth Lawrence. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. p. 57. ISBN 9780822338871.
- ^ a b Linnaeus, C. (1753). Species Plantarum. Vol. 1. Stockholm: Laurentius Salvius. p. 309.
- ^ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
- ^ a b c "Scilla peruviana". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^ Clusius, C. (1601). Rariorum plantarum historia. Antwerp: Plantijn Moretus. p. 182.
Clusius writes: Primum autem locum merito sibi vindicabit elegant et rarissimus ille, quem, ex Peruano orbe delatum, in suo horto alebat Everardus Munichoven et florentem suis coloribus exprimi curabat. A French translation of it is to be found here: Cette [Hyacinthus] élégante et très rare, rapportée de la région du Pérou, que cultivait dans son jardin Everard de Munich[oven] (à qui cette étude tient à coeur) et qu'il soignait en fleurs pour ses couleurs parmi les plus belles. - ^ Sims, J., ed. (1804). "Scilla peruviana". Curtis's Botanical Magazine. 20: 749.
- ^ a b O'Hara, S.A. (2019). "What's in a Name – Scilla peruviana". Website of the California Horticultural Society. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
- ^ Chase, M.W.; Reveal, J.L.; Fay, M.F. (2009). "A subfamilial Classification for the Expanded Asparagalean Families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 132–136. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00999.x.
...Amaryllidaceae subfamily Amaryllidoideae and Asparagaceae subfamily Scilloideae...contain many genera and generic circumscription is in a state of flux, particularly in the latter.
- ^ a b Goldblatt, Peter; Manning, John C. (2019). "Hyacinthaceae". Temperate Garden Plant Families: The Essential Guide to Identification and Classification. p. 157. ISBN 9781604694987.
The genus Scilla has been dismembered, and several erstwhile Scilla species are now regarded as different genera. The well-known and misnamed S. peruviana (from Morocco) is now Oncostemma [sic] peruviana... Time will tell which of these changes will be found most acceptable.
- ^ a b Speta, Franz (14 August 1998). "Systematische Analyse der Gattung Scilla L. s.l. (Hyacinthaceae)" (PDF). Phyton: Annales Rei Botanicae (in German). 38 (1): 2, 111. ISSN 0079-2047.
- ^ Pfosser, Martin; Speta, Franz (1999). "Phylogenetics of Hyacinthaceae Based on Plastid DNA Sequences" (PDF). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 86: 852. doi:10.2307/2666172.
- ^ "Oncostema peruviana (L.) Speta". African Plant Database. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
- ^ "Oncostema peruviana (L.) Speta". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
- ^ "Oncostema peruviana (L.) Speta". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
- ^ "All about Scilla peruviana". Longfield Gardens. Retrieved 30 May 2021.