Autumn Squill Scilla autumnalis

Scientific Name: Scilla autumnalis syn Prospero autumnale (Asparagaceae, ex Liliaceae).

English Name: Autumn Squill (Asparagus family, ex Lily family).


French Name: Scille d'automne (='autumn squill').

5 Key Characters:

• dull washed out purple 6 segmented flowers without bracts (leaf-like growths at the base of flowers).
• purple anthers (inside flowers).
• a small plant, 4 - 20 cm tall.
• about 5 long narrow leaves (4 - 15 cm long, 1 - 2 cm wide), all at ground level.
• flowers on a spike of 4 - 20 individual flowers on short stalks.
  

Lookalikes: None that flower at the same time of year.


Habitat: Dry calcareous, gravelly or sandy grassland in full sun. Often beside tracks or in patches of sand in the middle of calcareous grassland. Especially on 'buttons' (sandstone outcrops in calcareous grassland).


Flowering Period: July-August-September-October.

Status: Uncommon and protected.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature: