Mediterranean Sea Squill and the Botanical Games (Science!)
Urginea maritima in very full bloom. You can see there are lots and lots of reasons for the bees to get excited.
I wonder what the bulb below really looks like? It’s hard to get the bulb and the blooms in the same photo.
Bulb photo.
Gee, how tall is that bloom stalk?
Really tall. So tall that I have to stand pretty far back to get both the bulb and the blooms in the photo.
And if you were wondering what the Botanical Games are, join me after the break…
This used to be in the Scilla genus, and some now place it in Drimia. It’s definitely in the Hyacinth Family, Hyacinthaceae, except recently it’s been proposed to be changed to the Scilloideae Subfamily of the Asparagaceae Family. This recent set of changes also moves Agaves into the Asparagaceae Family too, as a Agavoideae Subfamily.
When we started in this business, Aloes and Agaves were considered related as separate Subfamilies in the Lily Family, but now Aloes have been given their own Family status, Asphodelaceae, or maybe the Subfamily Asphodeloideae has been moved to the Xanthorrhoeaceae Family. I don’t know.
Maybe I should chart it out, Family Tree style. Stay tuned!
