Hyacinthoides is classified in the subfamily Scilloideae (now part of the family Asparagaceae, but formerly treated as a separate family, called Hyacinthaceae), alongside genera such as Scilla and Ornithogalum.[2]Hyacinthoides is differentiated from these other genera by the presence of two bracts at the base of each flower, rather than one bract per flower or no bracts in the other genera.[3]
Species
According to the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as of July 2012[update], the genus contains 11 species and one interspecific hybrid.[4] The majority of species are distributed around the Mediterranean Basin, with only one species, Hyacinthoides non-scripta (the familiar spring flower of bluebell woods in the British Isles and elsewhere) occurring further north in north-western Europe.[1]Hyacinthoides species belong, according to analysis using molecular phylogenetics, to three groups.[1]
Hyacinthoides hispanica (Mill.) Rothm. (Spanish bluebell) – Portugal to west and south Spain
Hyacinthoides non-scripta (L.) Chouard ex Rothm. (common bluebell) – western Europe to northern Portugal
Hyacinthoides paivae S.Ortiz & Rodr.Oubiña – north-west Spain to north-west Portugal
Hyacinthoides × massartiana Geerinck – hybrid between H. hispanica and H. non-scripta, occurs in north-west Spain and elsewhere in Europe, including Great Britain
^ abcMichael Grundmann; Fred J. Rumsey; Stephen W. Ansell; Stephen J. Russell; Sarah C. Darwin; Johannes C. Vogel; Mark Spencer; Jane Squirrell; Peter M. Hollingsworth; Santiago Ortiz; Harald Schneider (2010). "Phylogeny and taxonomy of the bluebell genus Hyacinthoides, Asparagaceae [Hyacinthaceae]". Taxon. 59 (1): 68–82. doi:10.1002/tax.591008.[dead link]
