Drimia Maritima (Sea Squill)

Drimia maritima (DRY-mee-a) (muh-RIT-tim-muh) or Urginea maritima (synonym), common name of Sea Squill is a Mediterranean geophyte, native to Malta and surrounding islands. It is a fall active perennial bulb. The plant is not fragrant even in the flowers. It grows in open spaces on shallow stony soils, with the bulbs totally above the ground. Several layers of papery tunics protect the bulbs from the sun and occasional fires don't harm them at all. Rodents don't eat the bulbs since they are poisonous. The bulbs split dichotomously from the apex rather than forming basal offsets and in time they grow to massive clumps up to 20 heads, each one reaching up to 30 cm in diameter.

USDA Zone 9b: to -3.8 °C (25 °F)

Full Sun

Bulb: Pyriform with several layers of papery tunics that protect the bulbs from the sun. The bulbs split dichotomously from the apex rather than forming basal offsets and in time they grow to massive clumps up to 20 heads, each one from 12 to 20cm in diameter and weigh 2 to 3,5 kg. The form with brown reddish outer tunics, is sometime referred as var. rubra and gets to be a bigger size.

Leaves: Broadly sword-shaped, erect, coriaceous, slightly succulent, dark green with a bluish waxy bloom that can get up to 35cm long by 10cm wide. The leaf canopy will reach about 60-90cm tall by 60-90cm across. They are basal and emerge in autumn and last till in spring.

Flower: The inflorescence (a long spike) will shoot up in August or September while the plant is leafless. There is only one inflorescence, not branched for bulb, it can reach 1-1,8 meters tall and is covered with con 50-100, small, star-shaped, white flowers each 1 to 1.5 cm across in the upper one-half. (but some individuals have white flowers with a distinct pink midrib on the tepals and in extreme cases the flowers are all pinkish)