Description
(Muscari glaucum, Bellevalia ciliata glauca)
Long, glaucous leaves radiate from the neck of the bulb, below an almost Asparagus-like stem of green and purple. Towards the flower spike this becomes purplish and from this many pedicels hold small bell-shaped flowers of purple (outside) and pale jade green (inside). The petals surround anthers which are navy blue when unripe but which yield yellow-orange pollen when they ripen and open. A remarkable plant, even by the rather outlandish and unusual appearance of Bellevalia generally.
Readily grown and highly perennial, under Mediterranean-type, bulb conditions of a fertile, loam-based compost with good drainage and a dry summer rest.
Native to Iran, Iraq and Pakistan
This stock was raised from Jim Archibald seed, JJA.16973, gathered originally as just “Bellevalia species”. Later it became known under the handle of “longistyla late and low” before being finally diagnosed as Bellevalia glauca.
