Description
(Othocallis)
(syn. Scilla sumelensis and S. caucasica of horticulture (in part))
Scilla armena is a siberica relative originally described in 1927. (Vestn. Tiflissk. Bot. Sada, n.s., 3-4: 198 (1926-1927 publ. 1927)). The accurate botanical name of S. armena has been the subject of botanical ping-pong for many years since, with various authors ascribing it to a full species or a subspecies of S. siberica. The expert on the genus, the late Franz Speta, split up the genus Scilla and transferred armena to his new genus Othocallis. He also said that although at least 4 different species of Scilla grow in the Zigana pass area S. armena is not one of the 4! It thus seems likely that the earlier disputes about the status of S. armena had been applied to the wrong plant anyway.
We, and others, have offered the MP stock as S. armena for many years. Plants of this exact stock were sent to Prof. Franz Speta some years ago and he said that it was not S. armena but a new species. He had a new name for the MP plant, Scilla sumelensis. This was not published before his untimely death and so is a nomen nudum.
For the gardener, this is a very attractive dwarf subject with one to three large flowers of china-blue striped with much deeper blue along the centre of each petal. There are three, 10 cm tall, scapes on each bulb normally. The flowers are more open than siberica, imagine an umbrella rather than a bell. In smaller bulbs there is just one flower per scape and this has been singled-out as a characteristic of the species. It may be true in the wild, however in horticulture, the larger, cultivated bulbs can produce branched scapes with up to three flowers on each. This branching can just be made out on our main picture.
Especially good in cold gardens as this is a very hardy species needing only good drainage with a moist summer. It will grow in a pot when you can appreciate it close up (the picture is a close-up by the way). In pots it must not be over-heated or over-dried.
