Hyacinthus is a small genus of bulbous, spring-blooming perennial herbs in the family Asparagaceae (subfamily Scilloideae), order Asparagales. The genus contains three accepted species and is the source of the familiar garden hyacinth, one of the most widely cultivated fragrant flowers in temperate horticulture.
Plants grow from bulbs, each producing 4–6 narrow, untoothed leaves and one to three upright racemes of flowers. In wild species the flowers are relatively widely spaced along the spike — as few as two per raceme in H. litwinovii — while H. orientalis typically bears 6–8 flowers per raceme and reaches 15–20 cm in height. Garden cultivars of H. orientalis have been selected for dense, showy spikes in a wide colour range: red, blue, white, orange, pink, violet, and yellow.
The genus is native to the eastern Mediterranean, from southern Turkey through Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran eastward into Turkmenistan, and is widely naturalized across Europe, Cyprus, North America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Korea. The three currently recognized species are H. orientalis (the common or Dutch hyacinth), H. litwinovii, and H. transcaspicus; some authorities reduce the genus to a single species by moving H. litwinovii and H. transcaspicus to the related genus Hyacinthella.
The genus name was attributed to Joseph Pitton de Tournefort and formally used by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. It derives from the Greek mythological figure Hyacinthus, whose blood was said to have given rise to the flowers. Hyacinthus was formerly treated as the type genus of its own family, Hyacinthaceae, and before that was placed in the lily family Liliaceae. Linnaeus originally circumscribed the genus broadly, including species now separated into Muscari and Hyacinthoides.
The bulbs contain oxalic acid and can cause mild skin irritation on contact; protective gloves are recommended when handling them. Other plants commonly called "hyacinth" — including grape hyacinths (Muscari), tassel hyacinths, and bluebells (Hyacinthoides) — are not members of Hyacinthus.
Etymology
The genus name Hyacinthus was applied by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, drawing on a name attributed to Joseph Pitton de Tournefort. It derives from the Greek ὑάκινθος (hyákinthos), used by Homer for a plant whose flowers were said to have sprung from the blood of the mythological youth Hyacinthus, killed by the god Zephyr out of jealousy over the youth’s relationship with Apollo. The original plant Homer called hyakinthos has been variously identified, with Scilla bifolia among the leading candidates.
Distribution
Hyacinthus is native to the eastern Mediterranean, ranging from southern Turkey through Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Iraq, and Iran to Turkmenistan. H. litwinovii and H. transcaspicus are concentrated in north-east Iran and southern Turkmenistan, while H. orientalis spans Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Turkey. The genus is widely naturalized beyond its native range, with established populations in Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Sardinia, Sicily, Cyprus, California, Pennsylvania, Texas, central Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, and Korea.
Cultivation
The Dutch or common hyacinth (H. orientalis) became a horticultural sensation in 18th-century Europe; by the height of its popularity, over 2,000 cultivars were being grown in the Netherlands, which remains its principal commercial producer. Cultivated forms bear a single dense, highly fragrant flower spike in shades of red, blue, white, orange, pink, violet, or yellow, and are widely grown as garden bulbs and as forced indoor pot plants. A smaller variant known as the Roman hyacinth has blue or white petals and is considered less hardy than standard Dutch hyacinths.
History
Carl Linnaeus formally established the genus Hyacinthus in 1753, using a name that Tournefort had applied earlier. Linnaeus defined the genus broadly, encompassing what are now recognized as separate genera — including Muscari (e.g., his Hyacinthus botryoides) and Hyacinthoides (e.g., his Hyacinthus non-scriptus). The genus was long treated as the type of its own family, Hyacinthaceae, before molecular studies led to its inclusion in the expanded Asparagaceae. The common hyacinth’s explosive popularity in 18th-century Dutch horticulture drove intensive cultivar development, resulting in more than 2,000 named varieties at the trade’s peak.
Taxonomy Notes
Three species are currently placed in Hyacinthus: H. orientalis, H. litwinovii, and H. transcaspicus. Some authorities transfer H. litwinovii and H. transcaspicus to the related genus Hyacinthella, which would render Hyacinthus monotypic. The genus belongs to subfamily Scilloideae within Asparagaceae (order Asparagales), and should not be confused with other "hyacinth" genera such as Muscari (grape hyacinths) or Hyacinthoides (bluebells), which were once included in a broadly circumscribed Hyacinthus by Linnaeus.
