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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, but they should not be confused with hyacinths. A number of species of Muscari are used as ornamental garden plants.

• Description

• Taxonomy

• Species

• Cultivation

• Cultivars

• References

• External links

The genus Muscari originated in the Old World, including 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.cite-ref-kewwc-m-2-0[2]

Brian Mathew says that many species of grape hyacinths are difficult to distinguish.cite-ref-mathew1987-3-0[3] 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.cite-ref-mathew1987-3-1[3]

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.cite-ref-garbarigreuter1970-4-0[4] In 1753, Carl Linnaeus used the name Hyacinthus muscari for the plant now called Muscari racemosum.cite-ref-kewwc-mr-5-0[5] In 1754 Philip Miller formally established the genus Muscari according to modern rules of nomenclature.cite-ref-garbarigreuter1970-4-1[4] The name muscari comes from the Greek muschos, musk, referring to the scent.cite-ref-6[6] 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).cite-ref-garbarigreuter1970-4-2[4] Britton & Brown (1913), Garbari & Greuter (1970), Speta (1982), and Böhnert et al. (2023) accept Muscari botryoides as the type species.cite-ref-bohnert-7-0[7]

Classified in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae,cite-ref-8[8] 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.cite-ref-mathew1987-3-2[3] Some authorities recognize Leopoldia and Pseudomuscari as separate genera. 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 – Leopoldia, Muscari, Muscarimia, Pseudomuscari, and Pulchella – which they recognize as subgenera.cite-ref-bohnert-7-1[7] Plants of the World Online recognizes Muscarimia as a separate genus, with two species – Muscarimia macrocarpa and M. muscari (syn. Muscari racemosum).cite-ref-9[9]

As of July 2025, Plants of the World Online accepted 85 species.cite-ref-powo-1-1[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 artvinense Demirci & E.Kaya

• Muscari atillae Yıldırım

• Muscari atlanticum Boiss. & Reut.

• Muscari aucheri (Boiss.) Baker

• Muscari azureum Fenzl

• Muscari babachii Eker & Koyuncu

• Muscari baeticum Blanca

• Muscari bicolor Boiss.

• Muscari botryoides (L.) Mill.

• Muscari bourgaei Baker

• Muscari caucasicum (Griseb.) Baker

• Muscari cazorlanum C.Soriano, Rivas Ponce, R.Lozano & Ruíz Rejón

• Muscari coeleste Fomin

• Muscari coeruleum Losinsk.

• Muscari commutatum Guss.

• Muscari comosum (L.) Mill.

• Muscari cycladicum P.H.Davis & D.C.Stuart

• Muscari discolor Boiss. & Hausskn.

• Muscari dolichanthum Woronow & Tron

• Muscari eburneum (Eig & Feinbrun) D.C.Stuart

• Muscari elmasii Yıldırım

• Muscari erdalii Özhatay & Demirci

• Muscari erzincanicum Eker

• Muscari fatmacereniae Eker

• Muscari fertile Ravenna

• Muscari filiforme Ravenna

• Muscari forniculatum Fomin

• Muscari ghouschtchiense (Jafari & Maassoumi) Böhnert

• Muscari grandifolium Baker

• Muscari gussonei (Parl.) Nyman

• Muscari haradjianii Briq. ex Rech.f.

• Muscari heldreichii Boiss.

• Muscari hermonense Ravenna

• Muscari hierosolymitanum Ravenna

• Muscari inconstrictum Rech.f.

• Muscari inundatum Yıldırım & Eker

• Muscari kerkis Karlén

• Muscari kurdicum Maroofi

• Muscari latifolium J.Kirk.

• Muscari lazulinum Ravenna

• Muscari longipes Boiss.

• Muscari longistylum (Täckh. & Boulos) Hosni

• Muscari macbeathianum Kit Tan

• Muscari macrocarpum Sweet (accepted as Muscarimia macrocarpa (Sweet) Garbari by Plants of the World Online)

• Muscari maritimum Desf.

• Muscari massayanum C.Grunert

• Muscari matritense Ruíz Rejón, Pascual, C.Ruíz Rejón, Valdés & J.L.Oliv.

• Muscari microstomum P.H.Davis & D.C.Stuart

• Muscari mirum Speta

• Muscari muglaense Eker, H.Duman & Yıldırım

• Muscari nazimiyense Yıld. & Kılıç

• Muscari neglectum Guss. ex Ten. & Sangiov.

• Muscari neumannii (Böhnert & Lobin) Böhnert

• Muscari olivetorum Blanca, Ruíz Rejón & Suár.-Sant.

• Muscari pallens (M.Bieb.) Fisch.

• Muscari pamiryigidii Eker

• Muscari parviflorum Desf.

• Muscari pseudomuscari (Boiss. & Buhse) Wendelbo

• Muscari pseudopallens Eker, Yıldırım & Armağan

• Muscari pulchellum Heldr. & Sartori ex Boiss.

• Muscari racemosum Mill. (accepted as Muscarimia muscari (L.) Losinsk. by Plants of the World Online)

• Muscari sabihapinariae Eroglu, Pinar & Fidan

• Muscari salah-eidii (Täckh. & Boulos) Hosni

• Muscari sandrasicum Karlén

• Muscari savranii Uysal & Dogu

• Muscari serpentinicum Yıldırım, Altioglu & Pirhan

• Muscari sintenisii Freyn

• Muscari sivrihisardaghlarensis Yild. & B.Selvi

• Muscari spreizenhoferi (Heldr. ex Osterm.) H.R.Wehrh.

• Muscari stenanthum Freyn

• Muscari tabrizianum (Jafari) Böhnert

• Muscari tauricum Demirci, Özhatay & E.Kaya

• Muscari tavoricum Ravenna

• Muscari tenuiflorum Tausch

• Muscari tijtijense (Jafari) Böhnert

• Muscari turcicum Uysal, Ertugrul & Dural

• Muscari tuzgoluense Yıld.

• Muscari vanense Uysal

• Muscari vuralii Bagci & Dogu

• Muscari wallii Rech.f.

• Muscari weissii Freyn

• Muscari zagricum Eker, Alipour & Majidi

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.cite-ref-10[10] Muscari fatmacereniae was recently described from Turkey.cite-ref-11[11]

• Muscari azureum Fenzl, see Pseudomuscari azureum (Fenzl) Garbari & Greutercite-ref-kew-azureum-12-0[12]

• Muscari comosum (L.) Mill., see Leopoldia comosa (L.) Parl.cite-ref-13[13]

• Muscari paradoxum (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) K.Koch, see Bellevalia paradoxa (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Boiss.cite-ref-kew-paradoxa-14-0[14]

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.cite-ref-15[15]

• 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.cite-ref-16[16]

cite-note-powo-11. "Muscari Mill". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 9 July 2025.

cite-note-kewwc-m-22. ↑ citerefwcsp2023WCSP (2023), Muscari, in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2023-03-01, select "Taxonomic rank" > "Species"; and click on "Accepted names only".

cite-note-mathew1987-33. ↑ citerefmathew1987Mathew, Brian (1987), The Smaller Bulbs, London: B.T. Batsford, ISBN 978-0-7134-4922-8, pp. 124–130

cite-note-garbarigreuter1970-44. ↑ citerefgarbarigreuter1970Garbari, 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, Bibcode:1970Taxon..19..329G, doi:10.2307/1219056, JSTOR 1219056

cite-note-kewwc-mr-55. ↑ citerefwcsp2011WCSP (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"

cite-note-66. ↑ citerefhyampankhurst1995Hyam, R. & Pankhurst, R.J. (1995), Plants and their names : a concise dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-866189-4, p. 330

cite-note-bohnert-77. ↑ Böhnert, T., Neumann, M., Quandt, D. and Weigend, M. (2023), Phylogeny based generic reclassification of Muscari sensu lato (Asparagaceae) using plastid and genomic DNA. Taxon, 72: 261-277. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12864

cite-note-88. ↑ citerefstevensStevens, P.F., Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Scilloideae

cite-note-99. ↑ "Muscarimia Kostel. ex Losinsk". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 9 July 2025.

cite-note-1010. ↑ See, e.g., Mathew 1987

cite-note-1111. ↑ citerefeker2019Eker, İsmai̇l (2019-03-14). "Muscari fatmacereniae (Asparagaceae, Scilloideae), a new species from southern Anatolia". Phytotaxa. 397 (1): 99–106. Bibcode:2019Phytx.397...99E. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.397.1.10. ISSN 1179-3163. S2CID 92768403.

cite-note-kew-azureum-1212. ↑ "Muscari azureum Fenzl". powo.science.kew.org. World Checklist. Retrieved 2023-03-01.

cite-note-1313. ↑ "Muscari comosum (L.) Mill". powo.science.kew.org. World Checklist. Retrieved 2023-03-01.

cite-note-kew-paradoxa-1414. ↑ "Bellevalia paradoxa (Fisch. & C.A. Mey.) Boiss". powo.science.kew.org. World Checklist. Retrieved 2023-03-01.

cite-note-1515. ↑ "The National Collection of Muscari at Witton Lane". Norfolk Plant Heritage. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

cite-note-1616. ↑ citerefanon-2011Anon. (October 2011), "Plant forum: new and interesting plants", The Garden, 136 (10): 11

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