Bellevalia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It was first described as a genus in 1808.Lapeyrouse, Philippe Picot de. 1808. Journal de Physique, de Chimie, d'Histoire Naturelle et des Arts 67: 425-427 in FrenchTropicos, Bellevalia Lapeyr.
It includes 81 species native to the Mediterranean Basin of North Africa, southern Europe, and Western Asia, as well as Ukraine, southern European Russia, the Caucasus, and western and Central Asia as far as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan.
Description Bellevalia species are perennial herbaceous plants. As geophytes, they form bulbs with a membranous sheath ("tunic"). The simple, parallel-veined leaves are basal. Grape-like inflorescences grow terminally on smooth cylindrical flower stems. The numerous flowers are located in the axils of small, membranous bracts. The hermaphroditic flowers are triple. The six identically shaped bracts are one-third to one-half their length and deformed tubular, bell-shaped or funnel-shaped in form. The color of the bracts ranges from white to cream to brown or more rarely from blue to purple. The fruit capsule is triangular in cross section with winged edges. The seeds are more or less spherical, rarely elongated and glossy.
Taxonomy
The genus Bellevalia was first described in 1808 by Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse.Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse: Bellevalia. Nouveau genre de plante de la famille des Liliacées. In: Journal de Physique, de Chimie et d'Histoire Naturelle. Band 67, Nr. 12, 1808, p. 425–427 The genus name honors the French botanist Pierre Richer de Belleval (1564-1632).Sandro Pignatti (Hrsg.): Flora d'Italia. Vol. 1–3, Edagricole, Bologna 1982 (Nachdruck 2002), , S. 374 (Band 3). A synonym for Bellevalia is Strangweja Bertol. The homonym genus Bellevalia Roem. & Schult. is a synonym of the genus Richeria Vahl from the family Phyllanthaceae.
Some species formerly belonged to the genus Hyacinthus. The genus Bellevalia is placed in the tribe Hyacintheae in the subfamily Scilloideae within the family Asparagaceae.
Species 81 species are accepted.
Recently described species include: Bellevalia iranica Alipour, Majidi, & Eker described in 2025 from Iran
Species formerly includedR. Govaerts, B. J. M. Zonneveld, S. A. Zona: World checklist of Asparagaceae. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Search on Bellevalia Access date 8 July 2014 moved to Alrawia, Althenia, Hyacinthella, and Muscari
References
Bibliography
S. I. Ali: Flora of Pakistan. Volume 214: Hyacinthaceae. University of Karachi, Department of Botany, Karachi 2005, S. 2, Bellevalia online GRIN Gustav Heynhold: Nomenclator botanicus hortensis: Oder, Alphabetische und synonymische Aufzählung der in den Gärten Europa's Cultivirten Gewächse, nebst Angabe ihres Autors, ihres Vaterlandes, ihrer Dauer und Cultur. Band 2. Arnoldische Buchhandlung, Dresden und Leipzig 1846, p. 64 Cristian Brullo, Salvatore Brullo, S. Pasta: Bellevalia pelagica (Hyacinthaceae), a new species from the Islet of Lampione (Pelagian Archipelag, Sicily). In: Edinburgh Journal of Botany. vol. 66, No. 1, 2009, p. 65–75 A. Jafari, A. A. Maassoumi: A New Species of Bellevalia (Liliaceae/Hyacinthaceae) from Iran. In: Edinburgh Journal of Botany. vol 65, No. 3, 2008, p. 469–473
External links
Flora of Israel Pacific Bulb Society International Bulb Society