Muscari is a genus of perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia that produce spikes of dense, most commonly blue, urn-shaped flowers resembling bunches of grapes in the spring. The common name for the genus is grape hyacinth, but they should not be confused with hyacinths. A number of species of Muscari are used as ornamental garden plants.

Description

Brian Mathew says that many species of grape hyacinths are difficult to distinguish. They usually have one or more narrow leaves which arise from a bulb. The flowers appear in the spring and form a spike or raceme, being held in a close or loose spiral around a central stalk. The flowers often become less tightly spaced as the flower matures. The flower colour varies from pale blue to a very dark blue, almost black in some cases (albino forms are also known). In some species, the upper flowers may be of a colour or shape different from the lower flowers. Individual flowers are composed of six fused tepals forming a spherical to obovoid shape, constricted at the end to form a mouth around which the ends of the tepals show as small lobes or "teeth", which may be of a color different from the rest of the tepal. In 1753, Carl Linnaeus used the name Hyacinthus muscari for the plant now called Muscari racemosum. In 1754 Philip Miller formally established the genus Muscari according to modern rules of nomenclature. Miller did not designate a type species, although the etymology of the genus name points to the species Linnaeus called Hyacinthus muscari (a.k.a. Muscari racemosum).

Classified in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, the genus was formerly placed in the Liliaceae as a member of the tribe Hyacintheae. The genus was at one time divided into four groups or subgenera: Botryanthus, Pseudomuscari, Leopoldia, and Muscarimia.

Subgenera

In 2023, Böhnert et al. published the results of a phylogenetic analysis of Muscari and its segregate genera. They found Muscari a "very natural group", with five distinct clades, which they recognize as subgenera: Muscari fatmacereniae was recently described from Turkey.

Formerly placed here

  • Bellevalia paradoxa <small>(Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Boiss.</small> (as Muscari paradoxum <small>(Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) K.Koch</small>)

Distribution

The genus Muscari originated in the Old World, and is native to the Mediterranean basin, central and Southern Europe, Northern Africa, Western, Central and Southwest Asia. It has become naturalized elsewhere, including Northern Europe and the United States.

Cultivars

  • M. 'Pink Sunrise' was described as "new" in 2011; it has pale pink flowers – a previously unknown colour in the genus – on stems.

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[This used to be elsewhere in the article, but needs sourcing: The former] Muscarimia group has two species. They have relatively large bulbs with thick fleshy perennial roots, and their natural habitat is Turkey and the east Aegean. The stems are stout and carry racemes with large elongated flowers with six projections below the mouth. The flowers are fragrant, yellow or white, tinted with green or blue, and small brown lobes. There may be a few sterile flowers which are minute and violet. They are best grown in a bulb frame or alpine house in a deep pot, since they have strong deep roots.

Species include M. macrocarpum, M. massayanum (sometimes included in Leopoldia) and M. muscarimi.

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References

  • M. Philippo, Muscaripages
  • Rainy Side Gardeners Muscari botryoides
  • The Plant Expert