Muscari ... and some relatives 2009

[Anthony Darby]

Well I didn't put a fiver on the National, but the same money did buy me three pots of grape hyacinths at a local garden centre: Muscari pycnantha, M. latifolia and M. 'Valerie Finnis'. Three x 6" pots with at least 8 flowering bulbs in each for £5 seemed quite reasonable?

[Maggi Young]

A very good return for your investment, Anthony.... and a bit more lasting , I hope!

[Anthony Darby]

It's amazing what can be planted in a space once occupied by a 2m² Daphne cneorum!

[Sinchets]

Following on the albino theme, we found these wild Muscari commutatum album in Greece- seed pods were present 
Sorry for the picture quality, it was dusk and a flash was used.

[Joakim B]

Very interesting discussion about plants and their saving and losing!
I also like the pictures from all the different kinds
Here are some pics from Portugal Serra de Aire and all from a small place. Hopefully not soon to be a house since it is hopefully protected but we will know next time we visit.
30*30 m and they did look very different but might all be the same?
I will see if I can dig any information about what it may be. So far I do not know.
Kind regards
Joakim
Edit later it seems to be Muscari comosum.

[Joakim B]

It seems to be Muscari comosum in different colours and stages.
Pleas feel free to correct.
Kind regards
Joakim

[Anthony Darby]

Here are the three Muscari spp. I got for a fiver at Greenyards Garden Centre the other day: Mm 'Valerie Finnis'; pycnantha and latifolia.

[DaveM]

A few pix below of Muscari macrocarpum, photographed in early March on the rocky coast at Physalis, SW of Antalya in Turkey. The rusty looking rock that they are growing on is serpentinite.

This locality is given in the Turkish flora as particular for this plant and does not give any other muscari there. To me, this does not look like M macrocarpum - compare with the much bolder plant shown at the Edinburgh Show last Saturday. Also the colour of that flower is much more yellow, with a mucky purple-brown upper part than the ones I picture which as you can see are pale blue with pale yellow. In fact, my plants look more like the other plant in the same exhibit from Edinburgh as M moschata. I've seen a number of other M macrocarpum in cultivation and they all look like the Edinburgh plant.

Any thoughts, folk?

Maggie: any chance you could copy across your picture(s) from the Edinburgh show to make comparison easier?  Thanks.

Edit by DaveM: So, Muscari muscarimi is the correct name here.

[Oron Peri]

Dave,
This is Muscari muscarimi, it grows in the coastal areas of Antalya.
Great photos!!!

[Maggi Young]

I agree with Oron, David..... another case of the plants not reading the books? 
There is a more creamy yellow form of Muscari muscarimi that iscloser in appearance to M. macrocarpum.

Here are the Muscari from Edinburgh..... first two pix are of the same potful

[DaveM]

Interesting, Oron and Maggie

A few miles inland at no great altitude from this coastal site we looked for M muscarimi. There were a few a week or so away from flowering, and we did comment that the plants on the coast looked more like them. Yet we were clearly conned by the flora!! Shows that we shouldn't take too much notice sometimes 
Thanks both

[Maggi Young]

A mention of useful links for anyone new to these little bulbs.....
http://home-3.tiscali.nl/~hennessy/index.htm
http://home-3.tiscali.nl/~hennessy/firstpage.htm .... home of Martin Philippo's Muscaripages

http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Muscari   ...... the PBS pages are a useful resource for all manner of bulbs.

[Oron Peri]

This is a wonderful, large, robust species, Muscari longipes [Leopoldia longipes] in Israel it can be seen in the Negev desert and has a wide distribution in  Syria ,SE Turkey, Iran and Iraq.

[DaveM]

Amazing plant!

Oron, can you give an approximate height, please?

[Oron Peri]

Dave , 

Mature plants can reach more than 30cm and 8-9 cm wide at the base of the inflorescens, a real giant in Muscari terms.