Biology:Chionodoxa luciliae

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Chionodoxa luciliae
Glory of the Snow.JPG
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Scilloideae
Genus: Chionodoxa
Species:
C. luciliae
Binomial name
Chionodoxa luciliae
Boiss.
Synonyms
  • (Boiss.) Speta Whittall
  • Chionodoxa grandiflora Chionodoxa gigantea
  • Wore ex Wilks & Weather Scilla luciliae

Chionodoxa luciliae (syn. C. gigantea), the Bossier's glory-of-the-snow[1] or Lucile's glory-of-the-snow, is a bulbous perennial from west Turkey flowering in early spring. After flowering, it goes into dormancy until the next spring. The Latin name is in honour of Lucile, the wife of the Swiss botanist Pierre Edmond Boissier.[2]

Like all members of the genus Chionodoxa, the bases of the stamens are flattened and closely clustered in the middle of the flower. In the related genus Scilla, the stamens are not flattened or clustered together.[3] The differences are not considered by some botanists as sufficient to create a separate genus, so they include this species in Scilla.[4]

Each bulb produces two leaves, up to 8 cm long and 2 cm wide, and at most one flowering stem, up to 10 cm long. The flowers are produced in a loose pyramidal raceme, with 2–3 flowers per stem, which face upwards. Each flower is up to 3.5 cm across. The base of each tepal is white (as are the stamen filaments), producing a white 'eye'. The outer part of the tepals is violet-blue. The species can be distinguished from the commonest form grown in gardens, C. siehei, by the much smaller number of slightly larger flowers per stem.[5]

Under its synonym Scilla luciliae this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[6] (confirmed 2017).[7]

Notes and references

Bibliography

Wikidata ☰ Q970846 entry