The genus Muscari belongs to the family of the
Hyacinthaceae, for a detailed description click the link.
thanks to Brian Mathew for the next words:
Muscari's are a comparatively large group of species, rather difficult to distinguish in many cases until the salient features are pointed out. They have true bulbs, giving rise to one to several basal leaves which in general are fairly narrow and linear although there are exceptions. The flowers are carried in dense to loose racemes. The species can be divided into fairly distinct groups which have been distinguished as separate genera by some authorities, or as subgenera or sections by others. Hence names such as Muscarimia, Botryanthus, Leopoldia and Pseudomuscari will be found in literature. Here I have kept these together under Muscari.
The genus Muscari is divided into four different groups.
They are as follows:
Sometimes called the true Grape Hyacinths) These all have pale blue to blackish- blue flowers (apart from the occasional albino), usually globose to obovoid in shape
with a very constricted mouth; they are carried in racemes which are compact and dense with the flowers almost touching, although they may become spaced out later on. The colour of the perianth lobes ('teeth') should be noted. These are mostly easy to cultivate and include some of the best-known species such as M. armeniacum and M. neglectum. They flower in early spring.
These have, like the above, flowers in shades of blue, often pale or rather bright blue, and are mostly smallish plants with fairly densely flowered racemes. The characteristic feature is that the bell-shaped perianth is not constricted at the mouth. They are also early spring-flowering and easily cultivated. In this group you will find species like M. azureum, M. discolor, M. inconstrictum and M. parviflorum.
These are on the whole much taller plants than the above two groups, with the flowers more widely spread on the raceme. The fertile flowers are longer, usually urn-shaped or tubular with angular 'shoulders' just below the constricted mouth. The colour is usually some shade of whitish, yellowish, greenish or brown, never blue, although there is often a conspicuous tuft of bright violet, blue or pinkish sterile flowers at the apex of the raceme. The colour of the perianth lobes, which are very small, is important in distinguishing the species. The species of the Leopoldia-group flower later than those of the above two groups, in late spring or early summer. They are relatively easy to cultivate in warm sunny situations.
In this group: M. comosum, M. cycladium, M. dionysicum, M. weissii.
There are only two species in this group. They have large bulbs with thick fleshy perennial roots which delve down into the rocky ground of their natural habitat in Turkey and the east Aegean region. The stout stems carry racemes of large elongated flowers, which have six projections just below the mouth, giving a corona-like effect. They have a strong fragrance and are either yellow or whitish, faintly tinted green or blue, with brown lobes which are so small that they are more like small teeth. Sterile flowers few, minute and violet, or none. Since they come from hot sun baked hillsides they are best grown in a bulb frame or alpine house in a deep pot to accommodate their strong roots.