Muscari neglectum is a perennial bulbous flowering plant in the asparagus family Asparagaceae. Members of this genus are commonly known as grape hyacinths, and M. neglectum is known as common grape hyacinth, p. 114 or starch grape hyacinth. Muscari are perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia. They produce spikes of dense, commonly blue, urn-shaped flowers. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant, for example, in temperate climates as a spring bulb.
Description Muscari neglectum is a herbaceous plant growing from a bulb. The flower stems are tall. The flowers are arranged in a spike or raceme and are dark blue with white lobes at their tips (teeth); there may be a cluster of paler sterile flowers at the top of the spike., p. 127 The raceme is long. The fruit is a 3-celled capsule with two ovules in each cell.
It is a very well known species in cultivation (being described as the "common" grape hyacinth by Brian Mathew); it increases rapidly and can become invasive.
Range The native range of Muscari neglectum extends around the Mediterranean basin including North Africa, Southern Europe, and Western Asia, and to Central Europe, Ukraine, European Russia, the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia.
Taxonomy The name was attributed to Giovanni Gussone by Michele Tenore in a list of plants of the Neapolitan area published in 1842. The species has a confused nomenclatural history; Plants of the World Online lists 51 taxonomic synonyms. The name M. racemosum is commonly found as a synonym for M. neglectum in the horticultural literature,See, e.g., although the true M. racemosum Mill. is a different species., search for "Muscari racemosum"
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