Scilla cilicica

[Mariette]

From a kind friend I received bulbs of this plant named as Scilla cilicica.  Can anyone confirm that this is the true species?

[ashley]

It's a nice plant Mariette, and looks similar to what I have under that name.

[Mariette]

Thank You, Ashley! The trouble is - itīs said to hail from Cyprus, but some claim that Scilla cilicica doesnīt exist there. By those, all similar plants are considered to be Scilla morrisii. Yet what I got as Scilla morrisii from Cyprus looks a different plant - smaller and with fewer flowers. ( 3 instead of 4-6)

[ashley]

Thank You, Ashley! The trouble is - itīs said to hail from Cyprus, but some claim that Scilla cilicica doesnīt exist there. By those, all similar plants are considered to be Scilla morrisii. Yet what I got as Scilla morrisii from Cyprus looks a different plant - smaller and with fewer flowers. ( 3 instead of 4-6)

Mine have almost gone over now Mariette, so it's too late this year to get good photos.  However, checking my notes it seems I made an assumption that may be wrong. 

The plants I thought resembled yours came from seed received in 2013 as Scilla sp. RRW9628 from Syria, Jabal an Nusayriyah, NW of Masyaf.  At some point I must have decided these looked like S. cilicica but a Google search shows me that Rannveig & Richard Wallis exhibited RRW9628 at an AGS show in 2007 as Scilla sp. nova whereas according to IPNI S. cilicica had been described as far back as 1908.  I don't know whether RRW9628 has now been identified or described.  Perhaps someone else knows?   

Unfortunately I don't have S. morrisii for comparison but my plants also produce 5-6 flowers per stem and regularly set seed. I like them very much and must test them in the garden.
Meanwhile, the WFO Plant List includes Othocallis morrisii var. veneris as one of the synonyms for S. cilicica ... 

I find these blue ones lovely but confusing (like the white ones ) ...

[Carolyn]

Mariette, There are quite a few scillas listed by rarelants.co.uk, with some useful descriptions and comments. A couple of S cilicica are listed. The naming of scillas seems quite problematic. They are lovely plants anyway, no matter the name.

[Mariette]

Thank You both for Your valuable information!

Meanwhile the kind donor of my bulbs wrote that they were collected by Arne Strid on Cyprus and had been given the number AS 55910. This is one of the 3 forms of Scilla cilicica offered by rareplants.

Itīs definitely one of the most attractive scillas Iīve seen, though the deeper blue forms of Scilla cilicica look also very tempting. Yet I have no idea whether they are worth trying outdoors in my region.

My Scilla morrisii from Cyprus, at least, came from a garden not very far from here, where they are growing since about 20 years in dappled shade in a well-drained area.

[Maggi Young]

  At some point I must have decided these looked like S. cilicica but a Google search shows me that Rannveig & Richard Wallis exhibited RRW9628 at an AGS show in 2007 as Scilla sp. nova whereas according to IPNI S. cilicica had been described as far back as 1908. I don't know whether RRW9628 has now been identified or described.  Perhaps someone else knows?   

I have heard from Bob Wallis that this plant is now established that this is Scilla cilicica.