''Muscari botryoides'' is a

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

ous

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

of the genus ''

Muscari ''Muscari'' is a genus of perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia that produce spikes of dense, most commonly blue, urn-shaped flowers resembling bunches of grapes in the spring. The common name for the genus is grape hyacinth (a name which is ...

'' and one of a number of species and genera known as grape hyacinth. It is sometimes grown as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

. The flowers are close together, and are almost totally round. The lower fertile flowers point downwards, while upper ones, usually paler and sterile, point upwards. The flowers are bright blue with white lobes at the end in the wild species, but other colours are available, including white. ''M. botryoides'' is originally from central and south-eastern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, growing in open woodland and mountain meadows., pp. 126 The name ''botryoides'' is derived from the appearance of a miniature cluster of grapes., p. 101 ''M. botryoides'' is said to be much less invasive than species such as '' M. neglectum'', nevertheless it is listed as invasive in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

References

;Notes ;Sources *
Rainy Side Gardeners Muscari botryoides

External links

USDA Plants Profile: ''Muscari botryoides''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q161158 botryoides Garden plants Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Taxa named by Philip Miller