Israel flowers: Purple Roman squill

Bellevalia trifoliata,Hyacinthus trifoliatus, Purple Roman squill, Turkish bellevalia,

Hebrew: זמזומית סגולה, Arabic: البلفية ثلاثية الوريقات

Scientific name:   Bellevalia trifoliata (Ten) Kunth
Synonym name:   Hyacinthus trifoliatus Ten.
Common name:   Purple Roman squill, Turkish bellevalia
Hebrew name:   זמזומית סגולה
Arabic name:   البلفية ثلاثية الوريقات
Family:   Liliaceae, שושניים


Life form:   Geophyte
Stems:   12-23 cm high; pink, violet color of the stem and pedicels
Leaves:   Rosette, simple, smooth
Flowers:   Raceme; flower-buds purple-violet; erect but arch down slightly after opening when the petals brown greenish
Fruits / pods:   Capsule, obtuse at apex; seeds rounded or occasionally pear-shaped, smooth, dull, black, but sometimes with a bluish bloom
Flowering Period:   February, March
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Bellevalia, named in honor of Pierre Richer de Belleval (1564-1632), who founded the Montpellier Botanic Garden in 1593.

trifoliata, tri, tres, three; foliatus, provided with or having leaves; 3 leaved.
The Hebrew name: זמזומית, zimzumit, it’s origin is in the buzzing, humming (זמזום, zimzum), that the flowers make when they are slightly crushed by hand.

  • The standard author abbreviation Ten. is used to indicate Michele Tenore (1780 – 1861), an Italian botanist active in Naples, Italy.
  • The standard author abbreviation Kunth is used to indicate Carl Sigismund Kunth (1788 – 1850), a German botanist.