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Ledebouria socialis (Silver Squill) - An evergreen bulbous perennial to 6-10 inches tall with teardrop-shaped bulbs that usually are entirely above the ground (epigeous) with fleshy 4 to 6 inch long lance-shaped leaves that are bright gray purple with green blotches and spots above and the underside is entirely purple. In spring and summer, rising up on delicate pink stalks just above the leaves, are the 20-25 small flowers that have greenish petals with white markings and purple stamens.
Plant with bulbous part of plant above soil as it will rot if buried. Cold hardy to about 25 degrees F. This is a great underused dry shade plant for growing as a small-scale groundcover or for cracks in walls or in containers and also makes a nice house plant in climates to extreme for it to grow outdoors.
Ledebouria socialis is from the summer rainfall Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu-Natal in South Africa. It was first described in 1870 as Scilla socialis by the English botanist John Gilbert Baker (1834-1920) and it often is still called by this name or Scilla violacea, a name Kew botanist John Hutchinson gave this form with the purple-colored leaf undersides. In 1970 John Peter Jessop revised Scilla and reclassifying Scilla socialis into the genus Ledebouria. This name was one that Albrecht Wilhelm Roth (1757-1834) used when describing the type species, Ledebouria hyacintha from India, and honors German botanist Dr. Carl F. von Ledebour (1785-1851). The specific epithet means "social" or "relating to companionship" in reference to the way the plant grows with tightly clustered bulbs. This commonly cultivated form of Ledebouria socialis is sometimes listed as the cultivar 'Violacea'. Another common name for this species is Wood Hyacinth.
This plant is sometimes listed as poisonous, likely due to its close relationship with Scilla natalensis which contains a cardiac glycoside. While some other species, such as Ledebouria ovatifolia are known to contain toxins, other species are eaten by the native bushman in Africa. The toxicity of this plant might be more of by association with others and it is not specifically listed in most valid poisonous plant references (including the FDA database), studies on Ledebouria socialis have yielded hyacinthacines and to be safe we list this plant as possibly poisonous.
Information displayed on this page about Ledebouria socialis is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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