Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 7, 2026

Muscari subg. Pseudomuscari

Muscari subg. Pseudomuscari is a subgenus of bulbous perennials in the family Asparagaceae subfamily Scilloideae that has been treated as the separate genus Pseudomuscari. Muscari species placed in the subfamily have flowers in shades of pale or bright blue, and are small plants with dense flower spikes or racemes. A feature which distinguishes them from other groups of Muscari is the bell-shaped flower which is not constricted at the mouth. One species, Muscari azureum, is popularly grown in gardens as an ornamental Spring-flowering plant.

Last revised
Aug 7, 2026
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Muscari subg. Pseudomuscari
M. azureum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Scilloideae
Genus: Muscari
Subgenus: Muscari subg. Pseudomuscari
(Losinsk.) D.C.Stuart1r
Synonyms1

Pseudomuscari Garbari & Greuter

Muscari subg. Pseudomuscari is a subgenus of bulbous perennials in the family Asparagaceae subfamily Scilloideae that has been treated as the separate genus Pseudomuscari.1 Muscari species placed in the subfamily have flowers in shades of pale or bright blue, and are small plants with dense flower spikes or racemes. A feature which distinguishes them from other groups of Muscari is the bell-shaped flower which is not constricted at the mouth. One species, Muscari azureum (syn. Pseudomuscari azureum), is popularly grown in gardens as an ornamental Spring-flowering plant.2

Systematics

The group of species now placed in Muscari subg. Pseudomuscari was separated off as a section within Muscari by A.S. Losina-Losinskaja in a 1935 publication and as a subgenus by D.C. Stuart in 1965, but neither name was validly published. The group was first formally described as a genus by Fabio Garbari and Werner Greuter in 1970.3 A molecular phylogenetic study in 2023 concluded that Pseudomuscari was embedded in Muscari, and so reduced the genus again to a subgenus of Muscari, M. subg. Pseudomuscari.1 As of September 2025, Plants of the World Online treated Pseudomuscari as a synonym of Muscari.4

Species

In 2023, Böhnert et al. placed eight species in M. subg. Pseudomuscari:1

Image Scientific name Distribution
Muscari azureum Fenzl Turkey
Muscari coeleste Fomin E. Turkey
Muscari forniculatum Fomin NE. Turkey
Muscari inconstrictum Rech.f. E. Medit. to NW. Iran
Muscari kurdicum Maroofi
Muscari parviflorum Desf.
Muscari pseudomuscari (Boiss. & Buhse) Wendelbo
(syn. Muscari chalusicum D.C.Stuart)		 N. Iran
Muscari tavoricum Ravenna
References

References

  1. Böhnert, Tim; Neumann, Michael; Quandt, Dietmar & Weigend, Maximilian (2023). "Phylogeny based generic reclassification of Muscari sensu lato (Asparagaceae) using plastid and genomic DNA". Taxon. 72 (2): 261–277. Bibcode:2023Taxon..72..261B. doi:10.1002/tax.12864.
  2. Mathew, Brian (1987), The Smaller Bulbs, London: B.T. Batsford, ISBN 978-0-7134-4922-8, p. 125 (as the Pseudomuscari group)
  3. Garbari, F. & Greuter, W. (1970), "On the Taxonomy and Typification of Muscari Miller (Liliaceae) and Allied Genera, and on the Typification of Generic Names", Taxon, 19 (3): 329–335, Bibcode:1970Taxon..19..329G, doi:10.2307/1219056, JSTOR 1219056
  4. "Pseudomuscari Garbari & Greuter". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 6 September 2025.