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| 29th August 2021 | 9th August 2022 | 24th September 2022 | 12th August 2023 | 12th August 2023 |
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I bought this as Prospero obtusifolium ssp. intermedium but the subspecies is no longer recognised. It may or may not be Prospero obtusifolium, the matter is still under consideration
(cleverer people than me)! I got it from Bob Brown at Cotswold Garden Flowers and he says of it: "STARRY PINK BLUEBELL FROM SPAIN AND FRANCE. THE FLOWERS APPEAR WITHOUT LEAVES IN LATE SUMMER. RARE BUT NOT DIFFICULT TO GROW. PINK FLOWERS OVER A LONG PERIOD (JUL)AUG-SEP(OCT), 30CM. SYNONYM SCILLA OBTUSIFOLIA SUBSP.INTERMEDIA." I would say that my plant had blue flowers rather than pink but I have seen an unequivocally pink form grown at Kew. Plants of the World Online list the distribution as: "Algeria, Baleares, Corse, Libya, Morocco, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Tunisia." The Pacific Bulb Society say: " It has leaves 1 cm wide, which lay on the ground like a star. Flowers are bigger, with scapes loosely packed with flowers of an always rosy-pink color. This species flowers earlier than Prospero autumnale." Perhaps colour perception varies. My plant has certainly had pinkish moments but it has seemed distinctly blue most of the time. Perhaps the blue ovary has misled me. I have found it simple to grow under cover, and undemanding. Various reports describe it as "frequent" in habitat, but the IUCN report lists it as "near threatened". Herbari Virtuial del Mediterrani Occidental says: "Characteristics: A small bulbous plant. Has linear lanceolate leaves (at times with an undulate margin), distributed to form a basal rosette. Flowers are blue or pink, and emerge forming a long raceme above the vertical axis, when fructifies, forms an upwardly directed capsule. Differs from S. autumnalis as this later species has leaves narrower, canaliculated and lesser in number; additionally the stems are also much shorter." |
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