The Italian Bluebell or Italian Squill (Hyacinthoides italica, syn. Endymion italicus or Scilla italica), is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial native to the central Mediterranean region in northwestern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, southern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and northeastern Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. It is one of around 11 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Hyacinthoides

Hyacinthoides

Hyacinthoides is a genus of the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It has also been placed in the separate family Hyacinthaceae and before that the Liliaceae. The genus is included within Scilla by some botanists....

, others including the Common Bluebell

Common Bluebell

Hyacinthoides non-scripta, commonly known as the common bluebell, is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial plant. -Taxonomy:...

 (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) in northwestern Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, and the Spanish Bluebell

Spanish Bluebell

The Spanish Bluebell , is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial native to the Iberian Peninsula...

 (Hyacinthoides hispanica) further west in the Iberian Peninsula

Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

.

It is in some respects intermediate between the Common and Spanish species in having slender leaves (as in H. non-scripta or even slenderer, 3-12 mm broad), but a dense, conical flowering raceme 10-40 cm tall (as in H. hispanica; not sparse and one-sided as in H. non-scripta).