Scilla verna
Ecology
A bulbous perennial herb of short turf and maritime heath on exposed cliff-tops and on rocky slopes near the sea, sometimes within the zone regularly affected by sea-water spray. In areas with a pronounced oceanic climate (e.g. Anglesey) it can occur on heathland well inland. Generally lowland, but reaching 415 m in Foula (Shetland).
Status
Trends
There is no evidence of any significant change in the distribution of S. verna since the 1962 Atlas. Within its highly restricted habitat S. verna is often present in large numbers, and its sites are usually too exposed for any major threat from successional or land-use change.
World Distribution
Oceanic Temperate element.
Broad Habitats
Light (Ellenberg): 8
Moisture (Ellenberg): 5
Reaction (Ellenberg): 5
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 3
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 3
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 4.6
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 13.9
Annual Precipitation (mm): 1103
Height (cm): 10
Perennation - primary
Life Form - primary
Woodiness
Clonality - primary
Clonality - secondary
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 310
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 29
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 0
Atlas Change Index: 0.12
Weighted Changed Factor: -22
Weighted Change Factor Confidence (90%)
JNCC Designations
PLANTATT - Attributes of British and Irish plants. (.zip 1455KB) This dataset was compiled and published in 2004, and last updated in November 2008. Download includes an Excel spreadsheet of the attributes, and a PDF explaining the background and nomenclature. Note that the PDF version is the booklet as published, whereas the Excel spreadsheet incorporates subsequent corrections. A hardcopy can be purchased from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
Atlas text references
Atlas (316a)
La flore atlantique européenne. Documents pour les cartes des productions végétales serie Europe-Atlantique, vol. 1,
, Toulouse, (1962)
Flowers of the coast,
, London, (1952)
Atlas of north European vascular plants north of the Tropic of Cancer. 3 vols,
, Königstein, (1986)
Comment on Clonality