Tas. 8035. 
SCILLA. mzssENraca. 
Greece. 
Litiacez. Tribe Scrnies. 
Scruza, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 814. 
Scilla messeniaca, Boiss. Diagn., ser. 1, 7 (1846), p. 110, et in FV. Orient. 
vol. v. (1881), p. 226; ex affinitate S. pratensis, W. K., a qua foliis multo 
latioribus differt. 
Bulbus ovoideus, tunicis pallidis vestitus, 1 poll. diametro. Folia 5-7, synan- 
thia, late linearia, basi attenuata, apice abrupte acuminata, 6-9 lin. lata, 
6-9 poll. longa. Scapusangulatus, foliis paullo brevior. Racemus ovato- 
oblongus, 10-20-florus. Pedicelli erecto-patuli, perianthium zquantes vel 
paullo longiores. Bractez solitarie, minutissime, truncatze vel interdum 
profunde bifide. Perianthium pallide azureum, 3 lin. longum; segmenta 
linearia, obtusa, erecto-patula. Staminum filamenta azurea, quam peri- 
anthium paullo breviora; anthere violacese, Stylus ovario paullo longior. 
Ovula in loculis geminata. Capsula globosa, obtuse trigona, 3 lin. longa.— 
S. amena, Bory et Chaub. F). Pelop. p. 15 non L. 
The genus Scilla contains over a hundred described 
species, native of Europe, Asia, and Africa, chiefly extra- 
tropical South Africa; and one is a native of Chili and 
another of Peru. The section Huscilla, to which the 
present one belongs, is characterized by the perianth- 
segments spreading from the base. 
S. messeniaca bears a resemblance as regards the raceme 
to S. pratensis, which comes into flower two months later. 
The leaves, however, are totally different from those of 
that species. 
Although described some sixty years ago, this Scilla 
does not appear to have been introduced into gardens until 
recently. Its habitat is confined to the Morea. There 
is in the Kew Herbarium only one specimen, which is 
from the valley of the Nedon, at Kalamata in Messenia, at 
an elevation of 500 to 1,000 feet. It is also recorded from 
the neighbouring provinces of Arcadia and Laconia, where 
it flourishes in the grassy, stony, lower regions. 
Bulbs were purchased from Mr. Max Leichtlin in 1897. 
They now form a large clump in the herbaceous ground at 
Kew, and flower freely in March. 
Among the species of Scilla most useful for the garden 
already represented in this Magazine are:—S. amena 
SEPTEMBER Ist, 1905, 
