Hyacinthus is a small genus of bulbous herbs, spring-blooming perennials.[1] [2] They are fragrant flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae[3] and are commonly called hyacinths . The genus is native predominantly to the Eastern Mediterranean region from the south of Turkey to the Palestine region, although naturalized more widely.[4]
Several species of Brodiaea, Scilla, and other plants that were formerly classified in the Liliaceae family and have flower clusters borne along the stalk also have common names with the word "hyacinth" in them. Hyacinths should also not be confused with the genus Muscari, which are commonly known as grape hyacinths.
Hyacinthus grows from bulbs, each producing around four to six narrow untoothed leaves and one to three spikes or racemes of flowers. In the wild species, the flowers are widely spaced, with as few as two per raceme in H. litwinovii and typically six to eight in H. orientalis which grows to a height of 15–. Cultivars of H. orientalis have much denser flower spikes and are generally more robust.[5]
The genus name Hyacinthus was attributed to Joseph Pitton de Tournefort when used by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[4] It is derived from a Greek name used for a plant by Homer, Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ὑάκινθος (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: hyákinthos), the flowers supposedly having grown up from the blood of a youth of this name killed by the god Zephyr out of jealousy. The original wild plant known as hyakinthos to Homer has been identified with Scilla bifolia,[6] among other possibilities. Linnaeus defined the genus Hyacinthus widely to include species now placed in other genera of the subfamily Scilloideae, such as Muscari (e.g. his Hyacinthus botryoides) and Hyacinthoides (e.g. his Hyacinthus non-scriptus).
Hyacinthus was formerly the type genus of the separate family Hyacinthaceae; prior to that, the genus was placed in the lily family Liliaceae.
Three species are placed within the genus Hyacinthus:[4]
Some authorities place H. litwonovii and H. transcaspicus in the related genus Hyacinthella,[8] which would make Hyacinthus a monotypic genus.
The genus Hyacinthus is considered native to the eastern Mediterranean from southern Turkey to the region of Palestine, including Lebanon and Syria, and on through Iraq and Iran to Turkmenistan.[4] It is widely naturalized elsewhere, including Europe (Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Sardinia, Sicily and former Yugoslavia), Cyprus, North America (California, Pennsylvania, Texas), central Mexico,the Caribbean (Cuba, Haiti) and Korea.[4]
The Dutch, or common hyacinth, of house and garden culture (H. orientalis, native to Southwest Asia) was so popular in the 18th century that over 2,000 cultivars were grown in the Netherlands, its chief commercial producer. This hyacinth has a single dense spike of fragrant flowers in shades of red, blue, white, orange, pink, violet or yellow. A form of the common hyacinth is the less hardy and smaller blue- or white-petalled Roman hyacinth. These flowers need full sunlight and should be watered moderately.[9]
The inedible bulbs contain oxalic acid and may cause mild skin irritation. Protective gloves are recommended.
Some members of the plant subfamily Scilloideae are commonly called hyacinths but are not members of the genus Hyacinthus and are edible; one example is the tassel hyacinth, which forms part of the cuisine of some Mediterranean countries.[10]
Hyacinths are often associated with spring and rebirth. The hyacinth flower is used in the Haft-Seen table setting for the Persian New Year celebration, Nowruz, held at the spring equinox. The Persian word for hyacinth is (), meaning 'cluster'.
The name () was used in Ancient Greece for at least two distinct plants, which have variously been identified as Scilla bifolia or Orchis quadripunctata and Consolida ajacis (larkspur). Plants known by this name were sacred to Aphrodite.[11]
The hyacinth appears in the first section of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land during a conversation between the narrator and the "hyacinth girl" that takes place in the spring.[12]
In Roman Catholic tradition, H. orientalis represents prudence, constancy, desire of heaven and peace of mind.[13]
The colour of the blue flower hyacinth plant varies between 'mid-blue',[14] violet blue and bluish purple. Within this range can be found Persenche, which is an American color name (probably from French), for a hyacinth hue.[15] The colour analysis of Persenche is 73% ultramarine, 9% red and 18% white.[16]