All blue on the creek side

Those last days the soil in the forest along the creek is being covered by beautiful blue flowers including the anther of the stamen.

Its name is Hyacinthoides italica, the Italian bluebell or Italian squill. It is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial plant belonging to the family Asparagaceae.

 

It is one of around 11 species in the genus Hyacinthoïdes, others including the common bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) in northwestern Europe, and the Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides Hispanica) further west in the Iberian Peninsula.

The Italian bluebell is sometimes used as an ornamental plant. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. 

 

This species is native to the central Mediterranean region, in northwestern Italy, in western Liguria, in southern France and in northeastern Spain. It can be found in olive groves, in dry and stony meadows, in clearings of forests and along our creek.