MUSCARI PARVIFLORUM

Family and Genus:- See- HYACINTHACEAE/Subgen. PSEUDOMUSCARI

Common Names:- Autumn grape hyacinth

Homotypic Synonyms:- Botryanthus parviflorus, Hyacinthus parviflorus.

Meaning:- Muscari (L) Musk-like (from the Turkish, moscos, fragrance).

Parviflorum (L) Small-flowered.

General description:- A low to short autumn-flowering.bulbous perennial.

Bulbs:-

1) Occasionally producing offsets; tunics light brown.

Scape:-

1) 15-35 cm, always exceeding leaves.

Leaves:-

1) 3-5, 7-20 cm x 1-3·5 mm, narrowly linear or filiform, rarely narrowly oblanceolate.

Flower:-

1) Raceme very lax, cylindrical.

2) Pedicels of the fertile flowers, 2-4·5 mm, ascending, as long as or shorter than

the flowers.

3) Fertile flowers, 3-5 mm, broadly oblong-obovoid, weakly constricted above, pale

blue; teeth paler, with a median darker blue marking, recurved.

4) Sterile flowers, few and minute, often absent.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, 5-7 x 4-6 mm.

Key features:-

1) Tube, of the mature fertile flowers pale blue to blackish-blue.

2) Perianth, pale blue, with darker blue stripes on the ± connivent teeth.

3) Pedicels, ascending.

4) Flowering in autumn.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Open dry shrubby vegetation, terraced olive groves and vineyards 0-200

Distribution:- Widespread but scattered in the Mediterranean area. Very rare on

Crete currently known with certainty from one location and a new location recently

discovered by Enda McMullen.

Flowering time:- Sept-Oct.

Photo by:- Enda McMullen