Blue flower, 6 petals, in Montreal.

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by bloempje, Apr 23, 2008.

  1. bloempje

    bloempje Member

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    Hi,

    Found lots and lots of these small blue flowers in downtown Montreal today and would like to know what they are. I've tried looking them up and it looks like a blue kind of Star-of-Bethlehem type flower, but I'm not even sure if that really exists.

    Sorry the closeup is so blurry, but any help much appreciated!

    -E.
     

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  2. tipularia

    tipularia Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    might be a Camassia
     
  3. chimera

    chimera Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Or Chionodoxa forbesii, "Glory of the Snow", a bulb.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2008
  4. bloempje

    bloempje Member

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    I don't think it's Camassia for two reasons: 1) According to this http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CAQU2, it's only found out west, and 2) what I found doesn't seem to have numerous flowers arranged up the stem like that, with possible top unopened parts (sorry I'm not at all technical). I think the flowers here in Montreal are more single flowers per stem, but I'll check today when I'm at work.

    Chionodoxa forbesii seems much closer in terms of formation and I would've said it's that... however, the USDA plants website says that C. forbesii is only found in a few states, none of which are even close to Quebec. So I'm puzzled.
     
  5. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    The flower pic isn't too clear, it could be Chionodoxa, it could also be Scilla siberica. Can you get some pics more in focus?

    The plants here are clearly cultivated, not wild or naturalised. So no guarantee they'd be included on the USDA site which only deals with native and naturalised plants.
     
  6. smivies

    smivies Active Member

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    It's S. siberica & incidentally, the only bulb that so successfully forms huge colonies in the lawn in this part of Canada. It was a popular bulb ~100 years ago and many old neighbourhoods feature lawns composed entirely of blue right now. Perhaps if Chionodaxa or Puschkinia had been as popular then, they might have done the same 100 years later.

    As for cultivated vs. naturalised.....The only tricks required to get such a great colony is time & an aversion to the first (sometimes the 2nd & 3rd) lawn mowing of the season.
     
  7. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    That's quite a patch.
     
  8. bloempje

    bloempje Member

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    S. siberica it is. Thanks so much, it's beautiful!
     
  9. Cereusly Steve

    Cereusly Steve Active Member

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    Definitely Scilla siberica.
     

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