Muscari

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Asparagales

Familia: Asparagaceae
Subfamilia: Scilloideae
Tribus: Hyacintheae
Subtribus: Hyacinthinae
Genus: Muscari
Subgenera: M. subg. Leopoldia – M. subg. Moscharia – M. subg. Muscari – M. subg. Pseudomuscari

Species

M. adilii – M. albiflorum – M. alpanicum – M. anatolicum – M. armeniacum – M. artvinense – M. atillae – M. atlanticum – M. aucheri – M. azureum – M. babachii – M. baeticum – M. bicolor – M. botryoides – M. bourgaei – M. caucasicum – M. cazorlanum – M. coeleste – M. coeruleum – M. commutatum – M. comosum – M. cycladicum – M. discolor – M. dolichanthum – M. eburneum – M. elmasii – M. erdalii – M. erzincanicum – M. fatmacereniae – M. fertile – M. filiforme – M. forniculatum – M. gussonei – M. haradjianii – M. heldreichii – M. hermonense – M. hierosolymitanum – M. inconstrictum – M. inundatum – M. kerkis – M. kurdicum – M. latifolium – M. lazulinum – M. longipes – M. longistylum – M. macbeathianum – M. macrocarpum – M. maritimum – M. massayanum – M. matritense – M. microstomum – M. mirum – M. muglaense – M. nazimiyense – M. neglectum – M. olivetorum – M. pallens – M. pamiryigidii – M. parviflorum – M. pendulum – M. pseudomuscari – M. pseudopallens – M. pulchellum – M. racemosum – M. sabihapinariae – M. salah-eidii – M. sandrasicum – M. savranii – M. serpentinicum – M. sintenisii – M. sivrihisardaghlarense – M. spreitzenhoferi – M. stenanthum – M. szovitsianum – M. tauricum – M. tavoricum – M. tenuiflorum – M. turcicum – M. tuzgoluense – M. ufukii – M. vanense – M. vuralii – M. wallii – M. weissii

Species named as Leopoldia without equivalent published combinations in Muscari: L. ghouschtchiensis – L. neumannii – L. tabriziana – L. tijtijensis
Name

Muscari Mill., Gard. Dict. Abr. ed. 4 (1754). BHL

Lectotypus: Muscari botryoides (L.) Mill. (designated by Britton & Brown, Ill. Fl. N.U.S. ed. 2. 1: 510 (1913), supported by Garbari & Greuter 1970 and Speta 1982)

Synonyms

Homotypic
Botryoides Wolf, Gen. Pl.: 83 (1776).
Eubotrys Raf., Fl. Tellur. 3: 5 (1837), nom. nud.
Eubotrys Raf., Autik. Bot.: 124, 139 (1840), nom. superfl. & nom. rej., non Eubotrys Nutt. (nom. cons.)
Botryanthus Kunth, Enum. Pl. 4: 310 (1843).
Lectotypus (designated by Garbari & Greuter 1970: 333): Botryanthus vulgaris Kunth, nom. illeg. (= Muscari botryoides (L.) Miller).
Botryphile Salisb., Gen. Pl.: 25 (1866).
Lectotypus (designated by Garbari & Greuter 1970: 334): Botryphile botryoides (L.) Salisb. (= Muscari botryoides (L.) Mill.).
Heterotypic
Muscari Kunth, Enum. Pl. 4: 313 (1843), non Mill.
Typus: Muscari moschatum Willd. (supported by Stuart 1965 as type of Muscari)
Czekelia Schur, Oesterr. Bot. Wochenbl. 6: 237 (1856).
Typus: Czekelia transsylvanica (Schur) Schur
Moscharia Salisb., Gen. Pl.: 25 (1866), (nom. illeg. non Moscharia Ruiz & Pavon, WCSP: “Moscharea”)
Typus: Moscharia muscari (L.) Salisb. nom. inval.
Muscarimia Kostel. ex Losinsk. in V.L.Komarov (ed.), Fl. URSS 4: 411 (1935). DJVU
Typus: Muscarimia muscari (L.) Losinsk.
Leopoldia Parl., Fl. Palerm. 1: 435 (1845), nom. cons.
Lectotype species (designated by Garbari & Greuter, Taxon 19: 333 (1970)): Leopoldia comosa (L.) Parl.
Pseudomuscari Garbari & Greuter, Taxon 19: 334 (1970).
Type species: Pseudomuscari azureum (Fenzl) Garbari & Greuter, Taxon 19: 334 (1970).

Note: This is a view of Muscari s.l. sensu Speta (1982) & Pfosser & Speta (1999), however, this circumscription is not accepted by all authorities or botanists, Govaerts et al. (2017) & Jafari (2014). See Discussion Page for more information.
Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Europe
Middle Europe
Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland.
Southwestern Europe
Baleares, Corse, France, Portugal, Sardegna, Spain.
Southeastern Europe
Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Romania, Sicilia, Turkey-in-Europe, Yugoslavia.
Eastern Europe
Belarus, Krym, Central European Russia, South European Russia, Ukraine.
Africa
Northern Africa
Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia.
Asia-Temperate
Middle Asia
Kirgizstan, Turkmenistan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan.
Caucasus
North Caucasus, Transcaucasus.
Western Asia
Afghanistan, Cyprus, East Aegean Islands, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Sinai, Turkey.
Asia-Tropical
Indian Subcontinent
Pakistan.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Miller, P. 1754. The Gardeners Dictionary. Abridged. Ed. 4, Vol. 1–3 (unpaged). John & James Rivington, London. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.79061 Reference page.

Additional references

Böhnert, T. & Lobin, W. 2017. Leopoldia neumannii sp. nov. (Asparagaceae, Scilloideae): a new species of Muscari sensu lato from Greece. Willdenowia 47(2): 179–185. DOI: 10.3372/wi.47.47210 Reference page. (new species described as Leopoldia)
Dizkirici, A., Yigit, O., Pınar, S.M. & Eroğlu, H. 2019. Molecular phylogeny of Muscari (Asparagaceae) inferred from cpDNA sequences. Biologia (Bratislava) 74(3): 205–214. DOI: 10.2478/s11756-018-00164-0 Reference page. (supporting Muscari s.l.)
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 Reference page. (supporting Muscari s.str. excl. Leopoldia and Pseudomuscari)
Jafari, A. & Maassoumi, A.A. 2011. Synopsis of Leopoldia, Muscari and Pseudomuscari (Hyacinthaceae) in Iran, with Leopoldia ghouschtchiensis sp. nova. Annales Botanici Fennici 48(5): 396–400. DOI: 10.5735/085.048.0502 PDF Reference page.
Jafari, A. 2014. A new species of Leopoldia (Asparagaceae Scilloideae formerly Hyacinthaceae) from Iran. Feddes Repertorium 123(4): 291–294. DOI: 10.1002/fedr.20100000 Reference page. (new species described as Leopoldia)
Speta, F. 1982. Über die Abgrenzung und Gliederung der Gattung Muscari und über ihre Beziehungen zu anderen Vertretern der Hyacinthaceae. Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 103(2): 247–291. Reference page. (supporting Muscari s.l.)
Pfosser, M. & Speta, F. 1999. Phylogenetics of Hyacinthaceae based on plastid DNA sequences. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 86(4): 852–875. JSTOR BHL Reference page. (supporting Muscari s.l.)
Stuart, D.C. 1965. Muscari and allied genera. A Lily Group discussion. Lily Year-Book 29: 125–138. Reference page. (supporting Muscari s.l., but with only three species included in the analysis)

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Muscari in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Mar 23. Reference page. (supporting Muscari s.str. excl. Leopoldia and Pseudomuscari, also available at Catalogue of Life)
Tropicos.org 2017. Muscari. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 26 Dec 2017.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Muscari Mill. in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 2014-03-29.
Muscari Mill. – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Muscari – Taxon details on National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
EOL: Muscari

Vernacular names
bosanski: Presličica
čeština: modřenec
dansk: Perlehyacint
Deutsch: Traubenhyazinthen
English: Grape hyacinth
فارسی: کلاغک
suomi: Helmililjat
Gaeilge: Bú finiúna
עברית: כדן
hornjoserbsce: Kitelnička
magyar: Gyöngyike
հայերեն: Պապլոր
日本語: ムスカリ属
lietuvių: Žydrė
latviešu: Muskares
Nedersaksies: Druufhyacint
Nederlands: Druifhyacint, Blauwe druifjes
norsk: Perleblomslekta
polski: Szafirek
русский: Гадючий лук, Мышиный гиацинт
slovenčina: modrica
svenska: Pärlhyacinter
Türkçe: Arap otu, Arap sümbülü
Tiếng Việt: Muscari
中文（简体）: 葡萄风信子属
中文（繁體）: 葡萄風信子屬
中文: 葡萄风信子属

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 (a name which is also used for the related genera Leopoldia and Pseudomuscari, which were formerly included in Muscari), but they should not be confused with hyacinths. A number of species of Muscari are used as ornamental garden plants.

Description

The genus Muscari originated in the Old World, including the Mediterranean basin, central and southern Europe, northern Africa, western, central and south-western Asia. It has become naturalized elsewhere, including northern Europe and the United States.[1]

Brian Mathew says that many species of grape hyacinths, including not only Muscari but also the related Leopoldia and Pseudomuscari, are difficult to distinguish.[2] 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 different colour and shape to 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 different colour to the rest of the tepal.[2]
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.[3] In 1753, Carl Linnaeus used the name Hyacinthus muscari for the plant now called Muscari racemosum.[4] In 1754, Philip Miller formally established the genus Muscari according to modern rules of nomenclature.[3] The name muscari comes from the Greek muschos, musk, referring to the scent.[5]

Classified in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae,[6] the genus was formerly placed in the Liliaceae as a member of the tribe Hyacintheae. There are about forty species. The genus was at one time divided into four groups or subgenera: Botryanthus, Pseudomuscari, Leopoldia and Muscarimia.[2] Pseudomuscari and Leopoldia are now treated as separate genera.[7] The genus Muscari is now more or less equivalent to the Botryanthus group.

A complication in splitting up the broad genus is that Miller's original Muscari included representatives of at least three of the new genera. Which one should retain the name Muscari would normally be decided by where the type species was placed; however Miller did not designate a type species, although the etymology of the genus name points to the species Linnaeus called Hyacinthus muscari (now Muscari racemosum).[3]

The Muscarimia group are retained in Muscari by the Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Two species have been placed in this group: M. macrocarpum and M. racemosum (under the name M. muscarimi).[2]
Species

As of November 2011, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepts 42 species:[1]

Muscari adilii M.B.Güner & H.Duman
Muscari albiflorum (Täckh. & Boulos) Hosni
Muscari alpanicum Schchian
Muscari anatolicum Cowley & Özhatay
Muscari armeniacum Leichtlin ex Baker
Muscari aucheri (Boiss.) Baker
Muscari babachii Eker & Koyuncu
Muscari baeticum Blanca
Muscari botryoides (L.) Mill.
Muscari bourgaei Baker
Muscari cazorlanum C.Soriano & al.
Muscari commutatum Guss.
Muscari discolor Boiss. & Hausskn.
Muscari dolichanthum Woronow & Tron
Muscari fertile Ravenna
Muscari filiforme Ravenna
Muscari hermonense Ravenna
Muscari hierosolymitanum Ravenna
Muscari kerkis Karlén
Muscari kurdicum Maroofi
Muscari latifolium J.Kirk.
Muscari lazulinum Ravenna
Muscari longistylum (Täckh. & Boulos) Hosni
Muscari macbeathianum Kit Tan
Muscari macrocarpum Sweet
Muscari massayanum C.Grunert
Muscari matritensis Ruíz Rejón & al.
Muscari microstomum P.H.Davis & D.C.Stuart
Muscari mirum Speta
Muscari neglectum Guss. ex Ten. [syn. Muscari racemosum (L.) Medik. nom. illeg.]
Muscari olivetorum Blanca
Muscari parviflorum Desf.
Muscari pulchellum Heldr. & Sart.
Muscari racemosum Mill. [syn. Muscari muscarimi Medik. nom. illeg., Muscarimia muscari (L.) Losinsk., Muscari moschatum Willd.]
Muscari salah-eidii (Täckh. & Boulos) Hosni
Muscari sandrasicum Karlén
Muscari sivrihisardaghlarensis Yild. & B.Selvi
Muscari spreizenhoferi (Heldr. ex Osterm.) H.R.Wehrh.
Muscari stenanthum Freyn
Muscari tavoricum Ravenna
Muscari turcicum Uysal et al.
Muscari vuralii Bagci & Dogu

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.[8] Muscari fatmacereniae was recently described from Turkey.[9]
Species now allocated to other genera

Muscari azureum Fenzl, see Pseudomuscari azureum (Fenzl) Garbari & Greuter[10]
Muscari comosum (L.) Mill., see Leopoldia comosa (L.) Parl.[11]
Muscari paradoxum (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) K.Koch, see Bellevalia paradoxa (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Boiss.[10]

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, which he shares with his partner Sally Ward.[12]
Cultivars

M. 'Pink Surprise' was described as "new" in 2011; it has pale pink flowers – a previously unknown colour in the genus – on 10–15 cm (4–6 in) stems.[13]

References

WCSP (2011), World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2011-11-14, search for "Muscari"
Mathew, Brian (1987), The Smaller Bulbs, London: B.T. Batsford, ISBN 978-0-7134-4922-8, pp. 124–130
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, JSTOR 1219056
WCSP (2011), World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2011-11-14, search for "Muscari racemosum"
Hyam, R. & Pankhurst, R.J. (1995), Plants and their names : a concise dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-866189-4, p. 330
Stevens, P.F., Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Scilloideae
WCSP (2011), World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2011-11-14, search for "Pseudomuscari" or "Leopoldia"
See, e.g., Mathew 1987
Eker, İsmai̇l (2019-03-14). "Muscari fatmacereniae (Asparagaceae, Scilloideae), a new species from southern Anatolia". Phytotaxa. 397 (1): 99–106. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.397.1.10. ISSN 1179-3163.
"World Checklist". Apps.kew.org. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
"World Checklist". Apps.kew.org. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
"The National Collection of Muscari at Witton Lane". Norfolk Plant Heritage. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
Anon. (October 2011), "Plant forum: new and interesting plants", The Garden, 136 (10): 11