Spring Squill - Wild Flowers - Native Wildflowers of The Western Isles
The spring squill - Scilla verna - is a members of the lily family, and is a relative of the bluebell and the wild garlic. It is seen in The Western Isles. They bloom from March to August.
The squills are perennial flowers and, like most cliff-top plants, are low growing and very tolerant of salt spray. Occasionally spring squill can be found in grassy areas away from the coast. These lovely purple/blue wildflowers are native to The Western Isles and can be seen on The Isle of Lewis, Isle of Harris and the Uists.
Nectar for The Bees
Spring squill offers nectar to very early solitary bees. Spring squill has blue anthers, these are the parts on the ends of the stamens which carry the pollen grains.
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Flowers
The lovely wildflowers are blue/purple in colour. The flowers grow in a dense cluster. There are any number of flowers from two to twelve - which occur at the stem tops. The beautiful wildflowers have no smell - they have six violet-blue sepals, 5-8 mm long. Each flower has a 5-15 mm long, bluish bract at the base. The seeds are black. Just occasionally the flowers are white.
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Habitat
The Spring Squill wildflowers are one of the Liliaceous family. They are a delicate little bulbous plant, found in sandy wastes and pastures, especially near the sea
Name
The Spring Squill,s latin name - the second part 'verna" actually means of the springtime.
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Leaves
The grassy leaves of spring squill come out in early spring followed soon by it's pale violet-blue star-like flowers. Two to seven leaves grow from the base of the plant; they are long and narrow, measuring 3-20 cm by 2-5 mm
Perennial
The plant is a perennial which can grow up to 15cm high but are often shorter on sea cliffs due to the climate etc
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A blue Spring Squill at Mealista |
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