Leopoldia

Leopoldia
L. comosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Asparagaceae
Subfamily:	Scilloideae
Genus:	Leopoldia Parl.
Species
See text.

Leopoldia is a genus of bulbous perennials in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae.^[1] They were formerly included in the genus Muscari (as the Leopoldia group or subgenus), and like them are often called Grape Hyacinths.^[2] Their flowers are arranged in a spike or raceme with those at the top more brightly coloured than those lower down.

Description

Leopoldia can be distinguished from Muscari by being generally taller plants and having more open spikes or racemes of flowers, caused by the individual flowers being spaced further apart. The lower fertile flowers are relatively long, often urn-shaped or tubular and are white, yellow, green or brown but never blue; they have distinct 'shoulders' close to the mouth of the flower, which is smaller than the general diameter of the flower and surrounded by small lobes or "teeth" formed by the ends of the fused tepals. The colour of the lobes is a diagnostic feature in identifying species. At the top of the raceme there is usually a tuft of bright violet, blue or pink sterile flowers.^[2]

Taxonomy

In 1819, William Herbert was the first to use Leopoldia as the name of a genus; it was proposed as a provisional name (nomen provisorium) for the genus he later (in 1821) called Hippeastrum. Although Leopoldia was subsequently validated (i.e. it became the correct name for Hippeastrum), this was overlooked, and Hippeastrum rather than Leopoldia was used for the genus of New World amaryllids. In 1845, Filippo Parlatore independently proposed Leopoldia for a group of species he separated from Muscari. In 1970, Fabio Garbari and Werner Greuter proposed that Parlatore's Leopoldia should be conserved and Herbert's Leopoldia rejected. This was accepted and Leopoldia Parl. is now a conserved name (nomen conservandum), and so the correct name for the genus described here.^[3]

Species

As of November 2011, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepts 10 species:^[4]

Uses

L. comosa bulbs are pickled and eaten in Iran under the name "موسیر" ([Moo'sir]), and also in Greece under the name βολβοί ([vol'vi] lit. 'bulbs') and in the Basilicata and Puglia region of Italy, under the names "lampascioni", "lampasciuni", "lamponi". They are included in the Ark of Taste catalogue of heritage foods.

References