Hyacinthus orientalis, the common hyacinth, garden hyacinth or Dutch hyacinth, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It is a bulbous plant with a bulb 3-7 cm in diameter. The flowering stem is a raceme bearing 2-50 fragrant purple flowers.
Origin
The species is native to western Asia, from southern Turkey, through Syria and Lebanon to northern Israel. It is widely cultivated in the temperate world for its strongly fragrant flowers, which appear exceptionally early in the season. Over 2,000 cultivars have been selected and named, with flower colour in shades of blue, white, pale yellow, pink, red or purple.
Botany and Taxonomy
The leaves are strap-shaped, 15-35 cm long and 1-3 cm broad, with a soft, succulent texture, and they grow in a basal whorl. The flowering stem rises to 20-35 cm, and each flower is 2-3.5 cm long with a tubular, six-lobed perianth. In most cultivars the spikes are denser than in the wild type, bearing 40-100 or more flowers each. Among cultivars, 'Delft Blue' is blue, 'Gipsy Queen' salmon pink, 'L'Innocence' white and 'Yellow Queen' cream yellow.
Hyacinthus is a genus of bulbous herbs and spring-blooming perennials, native mainly to the eastern Mediterranean from southern Turkey to the region of Palestine. Three species are placed in it: Hyacinthus litwinovii and Hyacinthus transcaspicus, both from north-east Iran to southern Turkmenistan, and Hyacinthus orientalis. Some authorities place the first two in the related genus Hyacinthella, which would leave Hyacinthus with a single species. The genus name was attributed to Joseph Pitton de Tournefort when Linnaeus used it in 1753, and it comes from the Greek name hyákinthos that Homer used for a plant. Linnaeus defined the genus widely, so that it included species now placed in Muscari and Hyacinthoides. Hyacinthus was formerly the type genus of the separate family Hyacinthaceae, and before that it stood in the lily family Liliaceae. Grape hyacinths belong to the genus Muscari and should not be confused with true hyacinths. Outside its native range the genus is widely naturalized, including in Europe, North America, central Mexico, the Caribbean and Korea.
Cultivation
Hyacinthus orientalis flowers in early spring and grows best in full sun to part shade, in well-drained but not dry soil. It needs a winter dormancy period and persists only in cold-weather regions. The plant is propagated easily by dividing the new bulbs from the main plant. Hyacinths are among the most popular bulbs for forcing, which induces flowering earlier than the natural season, in this case at Christmas. Forcing deprives the bulbs of light and warmth for several weeks, after which they are grown on in a bright, cool place. The bulbs can also be grown in a narrow-necked vase of water, which lets the root growth be seen.
The hyacinth of house and garden culture carries one dense spike of scented flowers, coloured red, blue, white, orange, pink, violet or yellow. A form of the common hyacinth is the smaller, less hardy Roman hyacinth, with blue or white petals. Every part of the plant is reported to be toxic to people and animals when eaten.
Pollination and Seeds
The plant is pollinated by different insects such as honey bees. The flowers are very fragrant and attract the insects by rewarding them with nectar. The seeds are dispersed by ants, which carry them into their burrows and use the elaiosome for food. After flowering the seed capsules ripen; they are fleshy and spherical, and when mature they dry and split into three parts. The seeds are black grains, each with one white elaiosome of variable size.
The Absolute
Its acid value is specified as 3.00 at most, expressed in KOH/g. The hyacinths behind this raw material are said to come from Asia Minor and the Balkans.
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