Hyacinthella Schur Hyacinthella leucophaea, (C. Koch) Schur

34. Hyacinthella Schur 1

Glabrous, bulbous perennials. Bulb small, with free scales. Leaves (1—)2(—3), all basal, linear-lanceolate, with raised veins. Inflorescence a more or less lax raceme, with 3-20(-30) blue or rarely white flowers; bracts minute. Perianth tubular-campanulate or infundibuliform, with 6 erect or patent lobes, persistent in fruit. Stamens 6, attached below the perianth-lobes, subbiseriate. Fruit a depressed-globose, loculicida! capsule.

Literature: N. Feinbrun, Bull. Res. Counc. Israel 10D: 323- 347 (1961).

1 Perianth 8-10 mm, infundibuliform; pedicels erect 3. pallasiana 1 Perianth 4-5 mm, tubular-campanulate; pedicels patent to erecto-patent

2 Leaves erect, with prominently raised veins; perianth-lobes

c. 1 as long as tube 1. leucophaea

2 Leaves patent or recurved, with only slightly raised veins; perianth-lobes slightly shorter than tube 2. dalmatica

1. H. leucophaea (C. Koch) Schur , Österr. Bot. Wochenbl. 6: 228 (1856).

Scape up to 25 cm. Leaves 2(-3), linear-lanceolate, erect, flat, with prominently raised veins. Raceme 10- to 20 (-30)-flowered, lax; pedicels erecto-patent. Perianth 4-5 mm, tubular-campanulate, pale blue, rarely white, often becoming green after anthesis; lobes ovate-elliptical, obtuse, c.) as long as tube. Filaments inserted in upper part of tube. Dry grassland and rocky slopes. S.E. Europe, extending to C. Romania, and northwards to 54°N. in S.C. Russia. Bu Gr Ju Po Rm Rs (C, W, K, E).

Variable in leaf-width and flower-size. Plants from Greece with deep blue flowers 4-5-6 mm have been described as H. atchleyi (A. K. Jackson & Turrill) Feinbrun , Bull. Res. Counc. Israel 10D: 339 (1961), but further material is needed.