Muscari

Brian Mathew says that many species of grape hyacinths are difficult to distinguish. 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==

of muscaris by Eugène-Jules Eudes, 1929The 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. In 1754 Philip Miller formally established the genus Muscari according to modern rules of nomenclature. 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). 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. 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: 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==