Scilla peruviana

Phylum: Magnoliophyta - Class: Equisetopsida - Order: Asparagales - Family: Asparagaceae

This exotic-looking bulb-ferous perennial plant is a native of the Western Mediterranean, where it can be found on roadside verges, in grassy and rocky ground, and in open woodland. (The specific epithet seems to suggest that this monocot plant comes from Peru, but that is not actually the case.)

Scilla peruviana grows from a large bulb, and the flower stems at the base of the flower stalk have long stems whilst the ones at the top have virtually no stalk at all giving the flower spike an overall pyramidal appearance that is most attractive. Occasionally the flowers are white rather than blue.

The specimens shown here were photographed in the Algarve in Portugal during April.