Pseudomuscari

Pseudomuscari
P. azureum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
clade: Angiosperms
clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Scilloideae
Genus: Pseudomuscari
Garbari & Greuter

Pseudomuscari is a genus of bulbous perennials in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae.[1] They were formerly included in the genus Muscari (as the Pseudomuscari group, section or subgenus). Species of Pseudomuscari have flowers in shades of pale or bright blue, and are small plants with dense flower spikes or racemes. A feature which distinguishes them from Muscari is the bell-shaped flower which is not constricted at the mouth. One species, P. azureum, is popularly grown in gardens as an ornamental Spring-flowering plant.[2]

Taxonomy

The genus was formerly included in Muscari. The group of species now placed in Pseudomuscari was separated off as a section within Muscari by A.S. Losina-Losinskaja in a 1935 publication and as a subgenus by D.C. Stuart in 1965, but neither name was validly published, and the genus was first formally named by Fabio Garbari and Werner Greuter in 1970.[3]

Species

As of November 2011, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepts 7 species:[4]

  • Pseudomuscari azureum (Fenzl) Garbari & Greuter
  • Pseudomuscari chalusicum (D.C.Stuart) Garbari
  • Pseudomuscari coeleste (Fomin) Garbari
  • Pseudomuscari coeruleum (Losinsk.) Garbari
  • Pseudomuscari forniculatum (Fomin) Garbari
  • Pseudomuscari inconstrictum (Rech.f.) Garbari
  • Pseudomuscari pallens (M.Bieb.) Garbari

References

  1. ^ Stevens, P.F. (2001 onwards), Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Scilloideae, http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/apweb/orders/asparagalesweb.htm#Hyacinthaceae 
  2. ^ Mathew, Brian (1987), The Smaller Bulbs, London: B.T. Batsford, ISBN 978-0-7134-4922-8 , p. 125 (as the Pseudomuscari group)
  3. ^ Garbari, F. & Greuter, W. (1970), "On the Taxonomy and Typification of Muscari Miller (Liliaceae) and Allied Genera, and on the Typification of Generic Names", Taxon 19 (3): 329–335, doi:10.2307/1219056 
  4. ^ 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 "Pseudomuscari"