{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Speciesbox |image = Muscari azureum7.jpg |parent = Muscari subg. Pseudomuscari |taxon = Muscari azureum |authority = Fenzl<ref name=POWO_538451-1/> |synonyms = {{Specieslist |Bellevalia azurea|(Fenzl) Boiss. |Hyacinthella azurea|(Fenzl) Chouard |Muscari praecox|Siehe |Pseudomuscari azureum|(Fenzl) Garbari & Greuter }} |synonyms_ref = <ref name=POWO_538451-1>{{Cite POWO|title=''Muscari azureum'' Fenzl|id=538451-1|access-date=2025-09-08|mode=cs1}}</ref> }}

'''''Muscari azureum''''' (syn. '''''Pseudomuscari azureum'''''), the '''azure grape hyacinth''', is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to Turkey. A bulbous perennial, it is grown in gardens for its spring flowers. The Latin specific epithet ''azureum'' means "bright blue",<ref name=RHSLG>{{citation |last=Harrison |first=Lorraine |title=RHS Latin for gardeners |year=2012 |publisher=Mitchell Beazley |location=United Kingdom |isbn=978-1-84533-731-5 |page=224}}</ref> a reference to its flower colour.

==Description== ''Muscari azureum'' is a small plant, around {{convert|4|–|15|cm|in|abbr=on}} high with two to three grey-green leaves per bulb. Up to 60 flowers are borne in Spring (March or April in the Northern Hemisphere) in a dense "spike" (raceme). Each flower is {{convert|4|–|5|mm|in|abbr=on}} long and bright blue in colour with a darker stripe along each of the lobes. A feature which distinguishes species placed in subgenus ''Pseudomuscari'', like ''M.&nbsp;azureum'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Böhnert |first1=Tim |last2=Neumann |first2=Michael |last3=Quandt |first3=Dietmar |last4=Weigend |first4=Maximilian |date=2023 |title=Phylogeny based generic reclassification of ''Muscari'' sensu lato (Asparagaceae) using plastid and genomic DNA |journal=Taxon |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=261–277 |doi=10.1002/tax.12864 |name-list-style=amp }}</ref> from other groups of ''Muscari'' is that the mouth of the flower is not narrowed but forms an open bell-shape. It grows in alpine meadows in north and east Turkey.<ref name=Math1987>{{Citation |last=Mathew |first=Brian |year=1987 |title=The Smaller Bulbs |publication-place=London |publisher=B.T. Batsford |isbn=978-0-7134-4922-8 }}, p. 127 (as ''Muscari azureum'')</ref><ref name=Scha1965>{{Citation |last=Schauenberg |first=Paul |year=1965 |title=The Bulb Book |publication-place=London |publisher=Frederick Warne |oclc=13373794 }}, p. 179 (as ''Hyacinthella azurea'')</ref>

==Cultivation== ''M. azureum'' may be found in horticultural sources under the illegitimate name ''Hyacinthus azureus''. The species is popular as a spring-flowering bulb; The botanist Brian Mathew describes it as "a delightful plant" for use in rock gardens or underneath shrubs.<ref name=Math1987/> It is frost-hardy but should be grown in full sun.<ref name=Scha1965/> It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref>{{citation |title=''Muscari azureum'' |work=RHS Plant Selector |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/11253/Muscari-azureum/Details | access-date = 3 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 65 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | accessdate = 9 April 2018}}</ref> There is a white cultivar, 'Album'.<ref name=Math1987/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q1386846|from2=Q7255144}}

Category:Flora of Turkey azureum Category:Plants described in 1859