Hyacinthoideae

Grape hyacinth Muscari neglectum, copyright Meneerke bloem.

Belongs within: Hyacinthaceae.
Contains: Scilla, Ledebouria, Lachenalia.

The Hyacinthoideae are the largest of the subfamilies recognised in the Hyacinthaceae, including the northern Holarctic members of the family together with a number of southern African taxa. Members of the Hyacinthoideae have a penicillate stigma and ellipsoid or globose to pear-shaped seeds (Manning et al. 2004). Phylogenetic analysis supports the separation of the Northern Hemisphere taxa as the tribe Hyacintheae, with most of the southern African species being placed in the tribe Massonieae except for the phylogenetically isolated Pseudoprospero firmifolium (Manning et al. 2004). The grape hyacinths of the genus Muscari produce dense spikes of mostly blue, urn-shaped flowers; several are widely grown as ornamentals.

<==Hyacinthoideae MGF04
    |--Pseudoprospero Speta 1998 MGF04 [Pseudoprospereae EN20]
    |    `--*P. firmifolium [=Scilla firmifolia] MGF04
    `--+--Hyacintheae EN20
       |    |--Barnardia scilloides MGF04
       |    |--+--Oncostema peruviana MGF04
       |    |  `--Tractema verna MGF04
       |    |--+--Brimeura amethystina MGF04
       |    |  `--Scilla MGF04
       |    `--+--+--Puschkinia scilloides MGF04
       |       |  |--Hyacinthella MGF04
       |       |  |    |--H. acutiloba MGF04
       |       |  |    `--H. leucophaea H09
       |       |  `--+--Alrawia bella MGF04
       |       |     `--Hyacinthus orientalis MGF04
       |       `--+--‘Scilla’ albescens MGF04
       |          `--+--Bellevallia MGF04
       |             |    |--B. flexuosa MGF04
       |             |    `--B. saviczii MGF04
       |             `--Muscari Miller 1754 MGF04, CC87
       |                  |  i. s.: *M. botryoides (L.) Miller 1754 CC87
       |                  |         M. armeniacum Leichtlin ex Baker 1878 CC87
       |                  |         M. atlanticum V72
       |                  |         M. commutatum PT98
       |                  |         M. latifolium V09
       |                  |         M. moschatum CC87
       |                  |         M. racemosum C55
       |                  |         M. weissii PT98
       |                  |--M. macrocarpum MGF04
       |                  `--+--M. chalusicum MGF04
       |                     `--+--M. comosum (Linnaeus) Miller 1768 MGF04, PL04 [=Hyacinthus comosus Linnaeus 1753 CC87]
       |                        |--M. neglectum MGF04
       |                        `--M. tenuiflora MGF04
       `--Massonieae [Lachenaliinae, Ledebouriinae, Massoniinae] EN20
            |--Merwilla Speta 1998 MGF04
            |    |--*M. dracomontana (Hilliard & Burtt) Speta 1998 [=Scilla dracomontana Hillard & Burtt 1982] EN20
            |    `--M. plumbea (Lindley) Speta 1998 MGF04 (see below for synonymy)
            `--+--Ledebouria MGF04
               |--Schizocarphus Van der Merwe 1943 MGF04
               |    `--*S. nervosus [=Ornithogalum nervosum] MGF04
               |--Eucomis L’Hér. 1789 MGF04
               |    |  i. s.: E. pallidiflora MGF04
               |    |           |--E. p. ssp. pallidiflora MGF04
               |    |           `--E. p. ssp. pole-evansii (Br.) Reyneke ex Manning in Manning, Goldblatt & Fay 2004 (see below for synonymy) MGF04
               |    |--*E. regia [=Fritillaria regia; incl. Ornithogalum nanum (Burm.f.) Thunberg 1794] MGF04
               |    `--+--E. autumnalis MGF04
               |       `--E. humilis MGF04
               |--+--Spetaea Wetschnig & Pfosser 2003 MGF04
               |  |    `--*S. lachenaliiflora Wetschnig & Pfosser 2003 EN20
               |  `--Daubenya Lindley 1813 [incl. Amphisiphon Barker 1936, Androsiphon Schltr. 1924] MGF04
               |       |  i. s.: ‘Neobakeria’ heterandra ERV99
               |       |         ‘Neobakeria’ marginata MGF04
               |       |--D. capensis [=*Androsiphon capense] MGF04
               |       |--‘Neobakeria’ comata MGF04
               |       |--D. namaquensis [=*Neobakeria namaquensis] MGF04
               |       |--+--*D. aurea MGF04
               |       |  `--‘Androsiphon’ alba MGF04
               |       `--+--D. stylosa [=*Amphisiphon stylosa] MGF04
               |          `--‘Neobakeria’ zeyheri MGF04
               `--+--Veltheimia Gled. 1771 MGF04
                  |    |--*V. capensis [=Aletris capensis] MGF04
                  |    `--V. bracteata MGF04
                  `--+--Lachenalia MGF04
                     |--Namophila Müller-Doblies & Müller-Doblies 1997 MGF04
                     |    `--*N. uropetala Müller-Doblies & Müller-Doblies 1997 EN20
                     `--Massonia Thunberg ex Houttuyn 1780 MGF04 (see below for synonymy)
                          |  i. s.: M. angustifolia [=*Neobakeria angustifolia] EN20
                          |         M. jasminiflora ERV99
                          |         ‘Desertia’ luteovirens Martínez-Azorín et al. 2015 EN20
                          |--M. etesionamibensis (Müller-Doblies & Müller-Doblies) Manning & Goldblatt 2004 MGF04, EN20 (see below for synonymy)
                          `--+--M. bifolia (Jacquin) Manning & Goldblatt 2004 MGF04, EN20 (see below for synonymy)
                             `--+--*M. depressa Houttuyn 1781 MGF04, EN20 (see below for synonymy)
                                |--M. pustulata MGF04
                                `--+--M. echinata MGF04
                                   `--M. heterandra MGF04

Daubenya Lindley 1813 [incl. Amphisiphon Barker 1936, Androsiphon Schltr. 1924] MGF04

Eucomis pallidiflora ssp. pole-evansii (Br.) Reyneke ex Manning in Manning, Goldblatt & Fay 2004 [=E. pole-evansii Br. 1918] MGF04

Massonia Thunberg ex Houttuyn 1780 MGF04 [incl. Desertia Martínez-Azorín et al. 2015 non Tshelnokov 1979 (ICZN) EN20, Neobakeria Schlechter 1924 EN20, Whiteheadia Harvey 1868 MGF04]

Massonia bifolia (Jacquin) Manning & Goldblatt 2004 MGF04, EN20 [=Eucomis bifolia Jacquin 1791 MGF04, Basilaea bifolia (Jacquin) Poiret 1810 EN20, Whiteheadia bifolia (Jacquin) Baker 1873 MGF04; incl. *W. latifolia Harvey 1868 MGF04, EN20, Melanthium massoniifolium Andrews 1804 EN20]

*Massonia depressa Houttuyn 1781 MGF04, EN20 [incl. M. brachypus Baker 1874 EN20, M. grandiflora Lindley 1826 EN20, M. latifolia Linné 1781 EN20, M. namaquensis Baker 1897 EN20, M. obovata Jacquin 1804 EN20, M. sanguinea Jacquin 1804 EN20, M. triflora Compton 1931 EN20]

Massonia etesionamibensis (Müller-Doblies & Müller-Doblies) Manning & Goldblatt 2004 MGF04, EN20 [=Whiteheadia etesionamibensis Müller-Doblies & Müller-Doblies 1997 MGF04, *Desertia estesionamibensis (Müller-Doblies & Müller-Doblies) Martínez-Azorín et al. 2015 EN20]

Merwilla plumbea (Lindley) Speta 1998 MGF04 [=Scilla plumbea Lindley 1830 MGF04; incl. S. kraussii Baker 1873 MGF04, Merwilla kraussii (Baker) Speta 1998 EN20, S. natalensis Planchon 1855 MGF04, M. natalensis (Planchon) Speta 1998 EN20]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[C55] Candolle, A. de. 1855. Géographie Botanique Raisonée: Ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle vol. 2. Librairie de Victor Masson: Paris.

[CC87] Clifford, H. T., J. G. Conran, J. B. Williams, R. J. F. Henderson, H. J. Hewson, E. M. Watson, G. J. Keighery, D. M. Churchill, I. R. H. Telford, A. Thongpukdee, N. H. Brittan, A. S. George, W. T. Stearn & T. D. Macfarlane. 1987. Liliaceae. Flora of Australia 45: 148–419.

[EN20] Eggli, U., & R. Nyffeler (eds) 2020. Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Monocotyledons 2^nd ed. Springer.

[ERV99] Esler, K. J., P. W. Rundel & P. Vorster. 1999. Biogeography of prostrate-leaved geophytes in semi-arid South Africa: hypotheses on functionality. Plant Ecology 142 (1–2): 105–120.

[H09] Heltmann, H. 2009. Der Königstein (Piatra Craiului), die Perle der Burzenländer Gebirge. Mauritiana 20 (3): 515–527.

[MGF04] Manning, J. C., P. Goldblatt & M. F. Fay. 2004. A revised generic synopsis of Hyacinthaceae in sub-Saharan Africa, based on molecular evidence, including new combinations and the new tribe Pseudoprospereae. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 60 (3): 533–568.

[PT98] Panitsa, M., & D. Tzanoudakis. 1998. Contribution to the study of the Greek flora: flora and vegetation of the E Aegean islands Agathonisi and Pharmakonisi. Willdenowia 28: 95–116.

[V09] Verdcourt, B. (ed.) 2009. Additions to the wild fauna and flora of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. XXVI. Miscellaneous records. Kew Bulletin 64 (1): 183–194.

[V72] Voss, E. G. 1972. Michigan Flora. Part I. Gymnosperms and Monocots. Cranbrook Institute of Science and University of Michigan Herbarium.

Last updated: 9 June 2022.