HYACINTHS 503 
Description of Muscari comosum, the Grape Hyacinth. The bulb 
and normal form of the flowers are shown at A. B is 
the var. monstrosum, with a portion of a filament enlarged in Fig. 3. 
C is the var. plumosa, of which an enlarged fragment is seen in 
Fig. 2; and Fig. 1 is an enlarged section of a normal flower. A, B, 
and C represent the natural sizes. 
HYACINTHS 
Natural Order Linttacez. Genus Hyacinthus 
HYACINTHUS (a classical name applied to a plant, by some thought 
to be Lilium Martagon). <A genus of about thirty species of bulbous 
perennials with radical strap-shaped or more slender leaves, and flowers 
in a raceme borne upon a juicy, leafless scape. The flowers are funnel- 
shaped, or bell-shaped, the perianth with six almost equal segments, 
which are erect, spreading, or recurved. There are six equal stamens, 
a nearly globose ovary, and a short style with a three-cornered stigma. 
The species are natives of the Mediterranean Region, the Orient, and 
Tropical and Southern Africa. 
The history of the genus as garden flowers is really 
the history of one species, Hyacinthus orientalis, the 
plant that in the present day is so important an item in gardening 
that nearly six hundred English acres of land in Holland are given up 
to the preparation of bulbs, for export to Britain and other European 
countries. These six hundred acres fully employ five thousand persons 
in Hyacinth culture. In a wild state this familiar species extends its 
range from Cilicia to Mesopotamia; and without doubt it was in- 
troduced from the Levant at a very early date. Matthias de Lobel, 
in 1576, mentions H. brumalis as “the best Hyacinth known in 
Holland.” This was the variety known later as H. orientalis albus; 
but his manner of speaking of it implies that Hyacinth-culture was 
already an established fact, and that at least several varieties were in - 
existence. It is clear that prior to 1596 several forms had found their 
way to England, for at that date Gerard had both single and double 
varieties with blue, purple, and white flowers. Some other colours have 
arisen as sports, and some from seedlings. The story is extant of the 
origin of the first lilac variety as a sport from a red-flowered bulb in the 
possession of a Dutch “fancier,” the Rev. Mr. Boekenhoven. He was so 
fearful that any untoward event—such as the attack of a mouse or rat 
IV,.—25 
History. 
a oak lo ab ans ts 
