Muscari racemosum (Mill.) seem to be the subject of great confusion on internet sites for many people who believe it is an alternative name for the smaller solidly deep blue Muscari neglectum. In fact there appear to be more photographs of smallish, bottle blue Muscari species labelled Muscari racemosum than the actual plant. The latest edition of New Flora of the British Isles gives a clue why this confusion exists. It gives Muscari racemosum as an illegal synonym for Muscari neglectum:

Muscari neglectum Guss. ex Ten. ( M. atlanticum Boiss.and Reut., M. racemosum Lam. and DC non (L) Mill.) It turns out that the correct synonym would have been Hyacinthus racemosus Linnaeus 1753 not Muscari racemosum Miller 1768. The trouble is that mistakes are copied and these days with widespread fast internet connections, very rapidly. Going viral comes to mind.

This plant smells of musk hence its name and the flowers have a violet tinge to start with but they are nothing like Muscari neglectum in size, leaf size, shape or flower colour. Use the arrows at the top of this page to see photos of Muscari neglectum.

It is a Turkish endemic and this one was identified by a Turkish botanist whose identification fits the photos and description in the excellent book: Wild Flowers of Turkey by L. Yasemin Konuralp. Wikipedia and the online Kew database also describes it as a plant like the above.

Muscari racemosum Musk Hyacinth Hills near Finike, 3rd April 2015 Previous   Next	Muscari racemosum Musk Hyacinth Hills near Finike, 3rd April 2015 Previous   Next
Muscari racemosum Musk Hyacinth	Muscari racemosum Musk Hyacinth

Hills near Finike, 3rd April 2015

Added on 28th January 2021