botryoides are pickled in vinegar for their sweet, nut-like flavor. comosum are boiled several times to remove bitterness, pickled, then preserved in oil and eaten as an onion substitute. The flowers, buds, and bulbs of some species are also featured in Mediterranean cuisine, particularly in Crete and southern Italy. A “river” of blue grape hyacinths with tulips and daffodils at Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse, South Holland, Netherlands. Today, grape hyacinth is renowned as the star of the stunning “blue river” at Keukenhof, a world-famous botanical garden located in Holland. In northern Iraq, pollen analysis from a Neanderthal burial cave revealed that one man was laid to rest on a bed of branches and colorful flowers, among them grape hyacinth. In the 14th century, bulbs traveled into Europe – north from Spain and west from the Caucasus – and have been commercially cultivated since the mid-1500s.īut archaeological evidence shows they’ve been appreciated for much longer, as far back as 50,000 years ago. The name “muscari” comes from ancient Greek and means musk, thought to refer to its scent. The flowers have a light, carnation-like or slightly fruity fragrance and open from the bottom up the raceme, revealing a small fringe of tepals as florets open and mature. And some species have two-tone colors with a dark bottom and lighter top.Īlthough they share a common name with fragrant hyacinths, they do not belong to the same genus.įoliage is typically narrow with an arching or slightly floppy habit, and some species send up six to eight leaves in fall.Īfter flowering, leaves yellow and then die back in late spring, and plants go dormant for summer. The fused tepals form a cinched, hoop-like opening, often with a thin white band around the mouth.Īs florets open, tiny white stamen may peek out from the hoop opening.įlowers bloom in shades of blue, purple, white, and yellow – with pale pink being a recent introduction. Plants produce one to three flower spikes in early to mid-spring, typically growing six to 12 inches tall.įlower racemes consist of tightly packed, urn-shaped florets that resemble a small cluster of grapes, hence their descriptive common name. Muscari bulbs are typically hardy in USDA Hardiness Zones 3-9 or 4-8, depending on the species. Previously classified in the lily (Liliaceae) clan, muscari species now belong to the asparagus family, Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. Native to northern Africa, Eurasia, and the Mediterranean basin, Muscari is a genus of perennial bulbs with approximately 40 different species.
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