Puschkinia
(named in honour of M. Pouschkin, a Russian botanist). SYN. Adamsia. ORD. Liliaceae. A genus comprising only a couple of species of hardy or half-hardy, bulbous plants, natives of Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and Afghanistan. Flowers few, loosely racemose, sometimes solitary on the simple, leafless scape; perianth with a short, campanulate tube, and six longer, sub-equal, somewhat spreading segments. Leaves radical, few, the first usually oblong, the rest linear. Only one of the species is in cultivation. This thrives very well in the rock garden and borders, in a compost of sandy loam and leaf mould. Propagated by dividing the bulbs, which should be done every two or three years.
P. libanotica (Mount Lebanon). A synonym of P. scilloides. P. scilloides (Scilla-like).* Striped Squill. fl. white, richly striped with pale blue down the centre, and on both sides of the reflexed perianth segments; perianth 1/2in. to nearly 1in. across; pedicels slender, distant; spikes secund, on slender, bending scapes. Spring. l. few, 4in. to 6in. long, lanceolate, concave, dark green. h. 4in. to 8in. Orient, 1819. A very handsome little spring-flowering plant.(B. M. 2244; Gn., Sept., 1878.) SYNS. P. libanotica, P. sicula (F. d. S. 2220), Adamsia scilloides (R. G. 310). A more compact-flowering form is in cultivation, under the name of compacta; its flowers are also more numerous.
P. sicula (Sicilian). A synonym of P. scilloides.