Hyacinthoides italica


Hyacinthoides italica, the Italian bluebell or Italian squill, is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial plant belonging to the family Asparagaceae.
It is one of around 11 species in the genus Hyacinthoides, others including the common bluebell in northwestern Europe, and the Spanish bluebell further west in the Iberian Peninsula.

Description

Hyacinthoides italica is up to tall. The stem is leafless. It has 3-6 basal lance-shaped leaves, wide and long. The inflorescence is a dense, conical or pyramid-like raceme with 5-30 bright violet-blue star-like flowers. The flowers have two narrow bracts. Flowering period extends from February to May.
It is in some respects intermediate between the common and Spanish species in having slender leaves, but a dense raceme of flowers.
H. italica is sometimes used as an ornamental plant. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Distribution

This species is native to the central Mediterranean region, in northwestern Italy, in western Liguria, in southern France and in northeastern Spain.

Habitat

It can be found in olive groves, in dry and stony meadows and in clearings of forests at an elevation up to above sea level.

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