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., pp. 124–130 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.
Taxonomy The use of muscari as part of the name of at least some of the species included in the modern genus can be traced back to Carolus Clusius in 1601, long before the modern rules of botanical nomenclature were established. In 1753, Carl Linnaeus used the name Hyacinthus muscari for the plant now called Muscari racemosum., search for "Muscari racemosum" In 1754 Philip Miller formally established the genus Muscari according to modern rules of nomenclature. The name muscari comes from the Greek , musk, referring to the scent., p. 330 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). Britton & Brown (1913), Garbari & Greuter (1970), Speta (1982), and Böhnert et al. (2023) accept Muscari botryoides as the type species.Böhnert, T., Neumann, M., Quandt, D. and Weigend, M. (2023), Phylogeny based generic reclassification of Muscari sensu lato (Asparagaceae) using plastid and genomic DNA. Taxon, 72: 261-277. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12864
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. Some authorities recognize Leopoldia and Pseudomuscari as separate genera. , Plants of the World Online continued to recognize Muscarimia as a separate genus, with two species – Muscarimia macrocarpa and M. muscari (syn. Muscari racemosum).
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: M. subg. Leopoldia (Parl.) Peterm., syn. Leopoldia Parl. M. subg. Muscari M. subg. Muscarimia (Kostel. ex. Losinsk.) Böhnert, syn. Muscarimia Kostel. ex. Losinsk. M. subg. Pseudomuscari (Losinsk.) D.C.Stuart, syn. Pseudomuscari Losinsk. M. subg. Pulchella Böhnert – a new grouping The following cladogram shows how the subgenera are related:
Species , Plants of the World Online accepted 85 species, including species that have been placed in Leopoldia and Pseudomuscari, genera which are treated as synonyms, but excluding Muscarimia. Subgenus placements in the table are from Böhnert et al. (2023). Species SubgenusMuscari adilii M.B.Güner & H.DumanMuscariMuscari albiflorum (Täckh. & Boulos) HosniLeopoldiaMuscari alpanicum SchchianunplacedMuscari anatolicum Cowley & ÖzhatayMuscariMuscari armeniacum H.J.VeitchMuscariMuscari artvinense Demirci & E.KayaMuscariMuscari atillae YıldırımMuscariMuscari atlanticum Boiss. & Reut.MuscariMuscari aucheri (Boiss.) BakerMuscariMuscari azureum FenzlPseudomuscariMuscari babachii Eker & KoyuncuLeopoldiaMuscari baeticum Blanca, Ruíz Rejón & Suár.-Sant.MuscariMuscari bicolor Boiss.LeopoldiaMuscari botryoides (L.) Mill.MuscariMuscari bourgaei BakerPulchellaMuscari caucasicum (Griseb.) BakerLeopoldiaMuscari cazorlanum C.Soriano, Rivas Ponce, R.Lozano & Ruíz RejónMuscariMuscari coeleste FominPseudomuscariMuscari coeruleum Losinsk.MuscariMuscari commutatum Guss.MuscariMuscari comosum (L.) Mill.LeopoldiaMuscari cycladicum P.H.Davis & D.C.StuartLeopoldiaMuscari discolor Boiss. & Hausskn.MuscariMuscari dolichanthum Woronow & TronunplacedMuscari eburneum (Eig & Feinbrun) D.C.StuartLeopoldiaMuscari elmasii YıldırımLeopoldiaMuscari erdalii Özhatay & DemirciLeopoldiaMuscari erzincanicum EkerLeopoldiaMuscari fatmacereniae EkerMuscariMuscari fertile RavennaMuscariMuscari filiforme RavennaMuscariMuscari forniculatum FominPseudomuscariMuscari ghouschtchiense (Jafari & Maassoumi) BöhnertLeopoldiaMuscari grandifolium BakerunplacedMuscari gussonei (Parl.) NymanLeopoldiaMuscari haradjianii Briq. ex Rech.f.LeopoldiaMuscari heldreichii Boiss.MuscariMuscari hermonense RavennaMuscariMuscari hierosolymitanum RavennaPulchellaMuscari inconstrictum Rech.f.PseudomuscariMuscari inundatum Yıldırım & EkerMuscariMuscari kerkis KarlénPulchellaMuscari kurdicum MaroofiPseudomuscariMuscari latifolium J.KirkPulchellaMuscari lazulinum RavennaMuscariMuscari longipes Boiss.LeopoldiaMuscari longistylum (Täckh. & Boulos) HosniLeopoldiaMuscari macbeathianum Kit TanMuscariMuscari maritimum Desf.LeopoldiaMuscari massayanum C.GrunertLeopoldiaMuscari matritense Ruíz Rejón, Pascual, C.Ruíz Rejón, Valdés & J.L.Oliv.LeopoldiaMuscari microstomum P.H.Davis & D.C.StuartPulchellaMuscari mirum SpetaLeopoldiaMuscari muglaense Eker, H.Duman & YıldırımLeopoldiaMuscari nazimiyense Yıld. & KılıçunplacedMuscari neglectum Guss. ex Ten. & Sangiov.MuscariMuscari neumannii (Böhnert & Lobin) BöhnertLeopoldiaMuscari olivetorum Blanca, Ruíz Rejón & Suár.-Sant.MuscariMuscari pallens (M.Bieb.) Fisch.MuscariMuscari pamiryigidii EkerMuscariMuscari parviflorum Desf.PseudomuscariMuscari pseudomuscari (Boiss. & Buhse) WendelboPseudomuscariMuscari pseudopallens Eker, Yıldırım & ArmağanunplacedMuscari pulchellum Heldr. & Sartori ex Boiss.PulchellaMuscari sabihapinariae Eroglu, Pinar & FidanMuscariMuscari salah-eidii (Täckh. & Boulos) HosniLeopoldiaMuscari sandrasicum KarlénMuscariMuscari savranii Uysal & DoguLeopoldiaMuscari serpentinicum Yıldırım, Altioglu & PirhanMuscariMuscari sintenisii FreynunplacedMuscari sivrihisardaghlarense Yıld. & B.SelviMuscariMuscari spreitzenhoferi (Heldr.) Vierh.LeopoldiaMuscari stenanthum FreynMuscariMuscari tabrizianum (Jafari) BöhnertLeopoldiaMuscari tauricum Demirci, Özhatay & E.KayaMuscariMuscari tavoricum RavennaPseudomuscariMuscari tenuiflorum TauschLeopoldiaMuscari tijtijense (Jafari) BöhnertLeopoldiaMuscari turcicum Uysal, Ertugrul & DuralPulchellaMuscari tuzgoluense Yıld.MuscariMuscari vanense UysalunplacedMuscari vuralii Bagci & DoguMuscariMuscari wallii Rech.f.LeopoldiaMuscari weissii FreynLeopoldiaMuscari zagricum Eker, Alipour & Majidiunplaced Böhnert et al. placed two species in Muscari subg. Muscarimia that Plants of the World Online placed in the genus Muscarimia: Muscari macrocarpum Sweet = Muscarimia macrocarpa Muscari racemosum (L.) Mill. = Muscarimia muscari
The names of some of the species are somewhat confused, especially in the horticultural literature. Thus the name M. racemosum is commonly found as an incorrect synonym for M. neglectum, with M. muscarimi or M. moschatum being used for the true M. racemosum.See, e.g., Muscari fatmacereniae was recently described from Turkey.
Formerly placed here Bellevalia paradoxa (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Boiss. (as Muscari paradoxum (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) K.Koch)
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.
Cultivation Some species are among the earliest garden flowers to bloom in the spring. They are planted as bulbs and tend to multiply quickly (naturalise) when planted in good soils. They prefer well drained sandy soil, that is acid to neutral and not too rich. Naturally found in woodlands or meadows, they are commonly cultivated in lawns, borders, rock gardens and containers. They require little feeding or watering in the summer, and sun or light shade.
The UK National Collection of Muscari is held by Richard Hobbs at his Witton Lane garden in Little Plumstead, Norfolk.
Cultivars M. 'Pink Sunrise' was described as "new" in 2011; it has pale pink flowers – a previously unknown colour in the genus – on stems.
References
External links
M. Philippo, Muscaripages Rainy Side Gardeners Muscari botryoides The Plant Expert