Description
Although Hyacinthoides flahaultiana is thought of as a new species it was in fact established by Emberger (as a Scilla) as long ago as 1935. It is known only from a small area of southern Morocco. It seems to be centred around the Kerdous valley, between Tirhmi and Tizourhane making it both is the most southerly and the most westerly member of the entire genus. It grows there in the mountains at 1,000-1,100m in dry, terra rossa soils, in scrub, under degraded Argania spinosa woodland (the trees and fruit that yield “Argan Oil”). The forests were incidentally regarded as degraded even in 1935 when the plant was first found. H. mauritanica which also grows in Morocco is found in totally different habitats close to sea-level in seasonally damp, usually sandy, soils in open communities dominated by grasses and ruderal herbs.
When Hyacinthoides (or “Scilla”) have been found in Morocco in the past they usually been identified as mauritanica. often just because the grow in Morocco, however this single name has been used when in fact two species have actually been involved. To make matters worse, plants of mauritanica have sometimes been wrongly identified as flahaultiana, due to a poor understanding of the species. Subsequently, based on this one species being given two names, the names themselves were said to be synonyms! To clarify – there are two different and distinct species involved and they are not synonyms though both species may be encountered under both names. Our stock came as incorrectly identified seed from the NARGS seed exchange some years ago. It didn’t match that species and was subsequently identified as H.flahaultina and then later on it was compared to a proven stock of known wild origins and also independently verified by botanists at a German Botanic garden.
H. flahaultiana is regarded as distinct on the basis of DNA evidence, habitat, appearance and geographical range. It is thought to be more like the Spanish H. reverchonii and not so closely related to the Moroccan mauritanica . H. flahaultiana differs in the shape of its inflorescence and this is especially obvious after flowering. In H. mauritanica (which has a relatively few-flowered inflorescence) the lowermost peduncles elongate and become more erect. H. flahaultiana initially has a denser, more spicate inflorescence, and the lower peduncles do not elongate but they are held just a little above horizontal after flowering. The up-facing, starry flowers are a deep blue with a hint of violet to the petals which are set around a blue ovary with wide, flattened blue filaments which bear navy-blue anthers. Growth is as for the other species, in a well-drained, loam-based compost, dry in summer.
