SPECIES DESCRIPTION
ALLIUM CYRILLI
Family:- ALLIACEAE/Sect. MELANOCROMMYUM
Common name:- None
Synonyms:- Allium nigrum var. cyrilli, Caloscordum cyrilli.
Meaning:- Allium (L) The ancient Latin name for garlic.
Cyrilli (L) For Dominica Cyrillo (1734-99), professor of medicine at Naples.
General description:- Medium to tall bulbous perennial.
Bulbs:-
a) up to 5 cm in diam.
b) Ovoid.
c) with membranous tunics.
Stems:-
a) 50-80 cm.
b) robust.
Leaves:-
a) 3-5, 2-4 x 20-30 cm.
b) all basal, broadly linear.
Flowers:-
1) Umbel:
a) broadly obconical.
b) flat-topped.
c) dense and many-flowered.
2) Spathe:
a) 2- or 3-valved.
b) papery.
c) shorter than the pedicels.
3) Perianth segments:
a) broadly linear.
b) ± canaliculate, acute, with incurved tips, finally deflexed.
c) greenish-white or purplish.
4) Filaments:
a) flat, triangular, broader than the perianth segments at the base.
5) Ovary:
a) purplish-black when young, later green.
b) angular-subglobose, smooth.
Fruit:- Capsule c. 5 mm.
Key features:-
1) Stem 50-90 cm.
2) Leaves much shorter than the stem, up to 80 mm wide.
3) Perianth-segments 1-1·5 mm wide, broadly linear, acuminate, with the apex incurved at anthesis.
4) Filaments narrowly triangular, 1·5-2·5 mm wide at the base, gradually narrowed above.
Habitat:- Cultivated and fallow fields, vineyards, olive groves, rarely in semi-natural habitats.
Distribution:- Scattered in mainland Greece and the Aegean. Turkey-in-Europe
and W. Anatolia, local in S. Italy. Limited distribution and rare on Crete.
Flowering time:- Apr to early June.
A member of the A. nigrum group (A. sect. Melanocrommyum), growing in the
same habitat as A. nigrum and sometimes together with it, but usually distinct in
floral characters.
Photos by:- Christodoulos Makris and Steve Lenton
Family:- ALLIACEAE/Sect. MELANOCROMMYUM
Common name:- None
Synonyms:- Allium nigrum var. cyrilli, Caloscordum cyrilli.
Meaning:- Allium (L) The ancient Latin name for garlic.
Cyrilli (L) For Dominica Cyrillo (1734-99), professor of medicine at Naples.
General description:- Medium to tall bulbous perennial.
Bulbs:-
a) up to 5 cm in diam.
b) Ovoid.
c) with membranous tunics.
Stems:-
a) 50-80 cm.
b) robust.
Leaves:-
a) 3-5, 2-4 x 20-30 cm.
b) all basal, broadly linear.
Flowers:-
1) Umbel:
a) broadly obconical.
b) flat-topped.
c) dense and many-flowered.
2) Spathe:
a) 2- or 3-valved.
b) papery.
c) shorter than the pedicels.
3) Perianth segments:
a) broadly linear.
b) ± canaliculate, acute, with incurved tips, finally deflexed.
c) greenish-white or purplish.
4) Filaments:
a) flat, triangular, broader than the perianth segments at the base.
5) Ovary:
a) purplish-black when young, later green.
b) angular-subglobose, smooth.
Fruit:- Capsule c. 5 mm.
Key features:-
1) Stem 50-90 cm.
2) Leaves much shorter than the stem, up to 80 mm wide.
3) Perianth-segments 1-1·5 mm wide, broadly linear, acuminate, with the apex incurved at anthesis.
4) Filaments narrowly triangular, 1·5-2·5 mm wide at the base, gradually narrowed above.
Habitat:- Cultivated and fallow fields, vineyards, olive groves, rarely in semi-natural habitats.
Distribution:- Scattered in mainland Greece and the Aegean. Turkey-in-Europe
and W. Anatolia, local in S. Italy. Limited distribution and rare on Crete.
Flowering time:- Apr to early June.
A member of the A. nigrum group (A. sect. Melanocrommyum), growing in the
same habitat as A. nigrum and sometimes together with it, but usually distinct in
floral characters.
Photos by:- Christodoulos Makris and Steve Lenton