BELLEVALIA JULIANA

Family and Genus:- See- HYACINTHACEAE

Common Names:- None

Homotypic Synonyms:- - None

Meaning:- Bellevalia (L) For P. R. De Belleval (1558-1632) early systematist.

Juliana (L) For Julia Jones FLS. Founder and president of the

organization “Flowers of Crete”

General description:- Perennial bulbous plant.

Bulb:-

1) Ovoid, 2.4-2.8 x 3-3.5cm, with brown tunics.

Scape:-

1) 1 or 2, greenish, tinged with violet in the upper part, 25-35 cm tall.

Leaves:-

1) 2 or 3, green, 28-50 x 1.2-3 (24) cm, long linear-lanceolate, shallowly

canaliculate, longer than the scape, margins slightly undulate, ciliate.

Flowers:-

1) Raceme, cylindrical, with 22-39 flowers, 5-9.5 cm long at anthesis, elongating to

15.5 cm in fruit.

2) Bracts, 1-1.5(-2) mm long. white or light pink, triangular.

3) Pedicels, erecto-patent before anthesis, ± patent at anthesis, violet, 5-11 mm

elongating to 16 mm in fruit.

4) Perianth, 9-11 mm long, tubular, usually brown at the base, white in the distal

part with green veins.

5) Perianth lobes, suberect or slightly recurved terminally, with green stripes, ovate

to oblong, 3-3.5 mm long, apex triangular to acuminate.

6) Stamens, shorter than the perianth.

7) Anthers, dark purple-violet to blue-violet, 1.2-1.8 mm long.

8) Filaments, attached just below the base of the perianth lobes, white, narrowly

triangular to linear, 2-3 mm long.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, orbicular, triquetrous, 7- 9 mm in diam.

2) Seeds, subglobose, 1-2.2 mm diam.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Rocky limestone hillsides on abandoned cultivation terraces. 0-100 m.

Distribution:- Endemic to east Crete originally known from only one location. two

further locations found by Steve Lenton in 2010. Very rare.

Flowering time:- Feb-Mar.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton

Status :-

Vulnerable (VU), according to the IUCN 2012, meeting criteria B1ab(iii,v) +2ab

(iii,v); D2.