scilleæ

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A tribe of liliaceous plants, characterized by the flowers being borne in a terminal leafless and unbranched raceme. They do not produce umbels as the related tribe Allieæ, nor flowers so few nor so large as the Tulipeæ; otherwise, in habit and in growth from a coated bulb, the three tribes are closely akin. The Scilleæ include about 23 genera, of which Scilla is the type, mainly natives of temperate climates and very largely South African. For important genera, see Hyacinthus, Muscari, Ornithogalum, Camassia.