Boissier's Glory-of-the-Snow

(Scilla luciliae)

Like all members of the former genus Chionodoxa, the bases of the stamens are flattened and closely clustered in the middle of the flower. In other species of Scilla, the stamens are not flattened or clustered together.

Each bulb produces two leaves, up to 8 cm long and 2 cm wide, and at most one flowering stem, up to 10 cm long. The flowers are produced in a loose pyramidal raceme, with 2–3 flowers per stem, which face upwards. Each flower is up to 3.5 cm across. The base of each tepal is white (as are the stamen filaments), producing a white 'eye'. The outer part of the tepals is violet-blue. The species can be distinguished from the commonest species grown in gardens, S. forbesii, by the much smaller number of slightly larger flowers per stem.