A bulbous perennial, with blue grape-hyacinth like flowers, blooming in late spring, much later than the more popular Siberian squill and later than Muscari which it resembles.

[4] The exact taxonomic circumscription of the genus Scilla and related genera has proven very difficult, as noted by Stedje in 2001.

"[5] Previously placed within the family Liliaceae, Scilla was subsequently reclassified as Asparaginaceae (subfamily Scilloideae, tribe Hyacintheae, subtribe Hyacinthinae).

[6] Based on DNA sequence studies, the Austrian botanist Franz Speta had proposed to re-ascribe this species into a separate genus, Chouardia, within the Hyacintheae (1998).

[9] In cultivation in the UK Scilla litardierei has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.