Scilla (/ˈsɪlə/) is agenus of about 30 to 80 species ofbulb-formingperennialherbaceous plants in the familyAsparagaceae, subfamilyScilloideae. Sometimes called thesquills in English, they are native to woodlands,subalpine meadows, and seashores throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. A few species are also naturalized in Australasia and North America. Theirflowers are usually blue, but white, pink, and purple types are known; most flower in early spring, but a few are autumn-flowering. SeveralScilla species are valued asornamental garden plants.
The genusScilla hasa long and complicated history in terms of its classification,circumscription and subdivision,[10] and is not fully resolved.[11] ThegenusScilla was first formally described byLinnaeus in 1753, and hence bears his name as thebotanical authority,ScillaL.. InScilla, he included six plants previously considered asHyacinthus. For instance, he renamed Clusius'Hyacinthus stellatus cinerei coloris[c][12] asScilla italica (Hyacinthoides italica in modern systems) andHyacinthus stellatus peruanus[13] asScilla peruviana, while Fuchs'Hyacinthus caeruleus mas minor, he namedScilla bifolia.[14]
In total, Linnaeus listed eight species ofScilla,[d] from the Mediterranean, Europe and southwest Asia, and placed the genus in the groupingHexandria Monogynia (6stamens, 1pistil) within hissystem of sexual classification (systema sexuale).[15][16] Since he listedS. maritima (which had previously been known as scilla officinale) first, this was considered thetype species.[3] On the basis that the seedmorphology distinguished this species from all the other LinneanScilla, Steinheil reclassified it as a member of a novel genus,Urginea, now submerged inDrimia asDrimia maritima.[17]
Later,De Jussieu (1789), using anatural system, the relative value of plant characteristics, rather than purely sexual ones, and a hierarchical system of ranks, groupedScilla into a "family" which he calledAsphodeli, along withHyacinthus andAllium.[18] Jaume-Saint-Hilaire (1805), while maintaining the same affiliation, recognized three speciesS. maritima,S. amoena andS. italica.[19] By 1853,Lindley had created a very large order, theLiliaceae, in which Scilla and related genera formed one of eleven suborders, as Scilleae. This included many genera, includingCamassia andOrnithogalum.[20] Treatments of Scilla in the nineteenth century include those ofDumortier (1827),[21]Salisbury (1796, 1866)[22][23] andBaker (1873),[24] with rather different approaches.[3]
Historically,Scilla and related genera were placed withlily-like plants in theorderLiliales, for instance as thetribe Hyacintheae of thefamilyLiliaceae. The availability ofmolecular phylogenetic methods intaxonomic classification led to major realignments of several relatedmonocot orders, particularly with the adoption of theAngiosperm Phylogeny Group system.[25] Significantly,hyacinth-like plants includingScilla were initially placed in a separate family, the Hyacinthaceae in the orderAsparagales, specifically in the very largesubfamily Hyacinthoideae.[26][27] Since 2009, the Hyacintheae, includingScilla, have been considered asScilloideae, a subfamily of the familyAsparagaceae.[11] There they are placed as one of about 21 genera in the subtribe Hyacinthinae within tribe Hyacintheae.[28] The most closely related genera toScilla wereMuscariMill. andChionodoxaBoiss.
For some time,Chionodoxa had been considered a possiblesynonym toScilla bifoliaL. and molecular methods failed to support the existence of a separate genus, but rather its specimens appeared intermixed with those ofScilla. Although there are distinguishingmorphological features (e.g. fusedtepal bases and broadenedfilaments), these were consideredparaphyletic, having arisen in several lines within the Hyacinthaceae. Furthermore, it was observed thatChionodoxa was capable ofhybridization withScilla bifolia. It was therefore proposed thatChionodoxa be considered an obsolete genus and be submerged withinScilla.[27]
Subsequently, it was proposed that the species of Scilla be split into twosections, Chionodoxa that would include thosetaxa previously considered to belong in the genusChionodoxa, andScilla which would contain the remainder.[29]
The precise number ofScilla species in the genus depends on which proposals to split the genus are accepted. In addition to creating two sections, some authorities have split the genus into a number of smaller genera. For instance, particularly the Eurasian species have been moved to genera such asOthocallisSalisb., so thatScilla siberica would becomeOthocallis siberica, leaving a much smaller genus referred to asScillas.s. orScillasensu Speta, with about 30 species.[30][31] However, this has not been generally accepted, leaving a much largerScillas.l.[32][1][16] of about 80 species.[33][34] Although theFlora of North America mentions (but does not list) 50 species,[35]World Flora Online lists 83 species, as of May 2022.[36] Speta's scheme (1998) created 8 separate genera, but many of these are very narrowly defined being eithermonotypic (single species) or oligotypic (very few species).[29][16]
Both the scientific genus nameScilla and the common wordsquill[37] derive, via Middle English and French, from the Latinscilla[38] and Greekσκίλλαskilla words for the plants. The common name squill has been applied to a number of other similar taxa such asDrimia.[39][40]
Native to woodlands,subalpine meadows, and seashores throughout Europe (especially the Mediterranean),[41] Africa (especially South Africa), Eurasia (especially southwest Asia) and the Middle East. A few species are also widely naturalized, particularly in Australia, New Zealand and North America.[35][1]
^e.g. scilla autem et bulbi et cepae et alium non nisi in rectum radicantur (squill and the bulbs and onion and garlic only throw out straight roots)[2]
^One of the common names forScilla maritima has been scilla officinalis,[3] indicating its medicinal use
Brenzel, Kathleen Norris, ed. (2007)."Scilla".Sunset western garden book (8th, completely rev. and updated ed.). Menlo Park, CA: Sunset Pub. Corp. p. 619.ISBN978-0-376-03917-0.
Jussieu, Antoine Laurent de (1789)."Scilla".Genera Plantarum, secundum ordines naturales disposita juxta methodum in Horto Regio Parisiensi exaratam. Paris: apud viduam Herissant et Theophilum Barrois. p. 53.OCLC5161409.
Martínez-Azorín, Mario; Crespo, Manuel B.; Dold, Anthony P.; Pinter, Michael; Wetschnig, Wolfgang (27 February 2015). "New combinations and lectotype designations in Asparagaceae subfam. Scilloideae".Phytotaxa.201 (2): 165.doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.201.2.7.
Steinheil, Adolph (1834). "Matériaux pour servir a la flore de barbarie III: Note sur le genre Urginea nouvellement formé dans la famille Liliacées".Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Botanique (in French). Second series 1:321–332.
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