Muscari neglectum

Grape hyacinth
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
clade: Angiosperms
clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Scilloideae
Genus: Muscari
Species: M. neglectum
Binomial name
Muscari neglectum
Guss. ex Ten.
Synonyms
  • Muscari racemosum var. neglectum (Guss. ex Ten.) St.-Lag.
  • Hyacinthus neglectus (Guss. ex Ten.) E.H.L.Krause

Muscari neglectum is a perennial bulbous plant, one of a number of species and genera known as Grape Hyacinth and in particular Common Grape Hyacinth.[1] It is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant.

Contents

Description

M. neglectum is a herbaceous plant growing from a bulb. The flower stems are 5–20 cm tall. The flowers are arranged in a spike or raceme and are dark blue with white lobes at their tips; there may be a cluster of paler sterile flowers at the top of the spike.[2] The raceme is 2–6 cm long. The fruit is a 3-valved capsula.

It is a very well known species in cultivation (being described as the "common" Grape Hyacinth by Mathew); it increases rapidly and can become too invasive.[2]

Taxonomy

The name was attributed to Giovanni Gussone by Michele Tenore in a list of plants of the Neapolitan area published in 1842. The species has a confused nomenclatural history; no fewer than 46 full species names are listed as synonyms in the Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.[3] The name M. racemosum is commonly found as a synonym for M. neglectum in the horticultural literature,[4] although the true M. racemosum Mill. is a different species.[3]

References

  1. ^ Grey-Wilson, Christopher; Mathew, Brian & Blamey, Marjorie (1981), Bulbs : the bulbous plants of Europe and their allies, London: Collins, ISBN 978-0-00-219211-8 , p. 114
  2. ^ a b Mathew, Brian (1987), The Smaller Bulbs, London: B.T. Batsford, ISBN 978-0-7134-4922-8 , p. 127
  3. ^ a b WCSP (2011), World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/home.do, retrieved 2011-11-14 , search for "Muscari neglectum"
  4. ^ See, e.g., Mathew 1987, p. 127

External links